


Electric Sheep

by eaivalefay, Furorscribiendi



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-22
Updated: 2011-02-22
Packaged: 2017-10-28 23:27:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 78,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/313344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eaivalefay/pseuds/eaivalefay, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Furorscribiendi/pseuds/Furorscribiendi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 2987. Cybernetics are widespread globally, but especially heavily used in the United Southern States. Virtual reality is a past time for the rich and affluent and no program is more loved than Cowell Entertainment's Adam program. But something rotten is unfolding at the core of the United Southern States and the ruling corporations can’t cover it up fast enough. Hackers abound and are synonymous with anarchists, facing the death penalty if captured.</p><p>Kris and Katy know this but still fight to try and expose the corporations for what they have done. Meanwhile, Tommy and Monte have given up on exposing the corporations, now only working to take them down. They have hacked into as many companies they can and slipped their latest virus into the systems. Suddenly the Adam program, as much as it’s loved, is going the way of its brother, Neil, showing glitches.</p><p>When Kris and Katy break into a Fuller Corporation compound they stumble across Adam and Neil struggling for their own survival. Suddenly Kris and Katy have found everything they dreamed of uncovering, only now they’re on the run for the Free Republic of the North, for their own lives and for the hope of the entire South.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> eaivalefay and I wrote this for the 2011 lambliffbigbang over on LJ. We definitely have more planned for this fic and it will become a series. We're just recovering from some writing burnout. But for goodies (fanmix, art, etc) you can check out the master post on Dreamwidth here: http://furorscribiendi.dreamwidth.org/10329.html.
> 
> And we're pretty sure we have completely forgotten the meaning of the words 'short' and 'brevity.' We might be certifiable insane for writing a nearly 80,000 word fic. It's pretty much a damned novel. Grab a blanket, some snacks, something to drink and get comfy, okay? =D

  
  


The thin disc of the sun was a dirty yellow, barely casting down light through the haze of smog. Down on the street, the crush of people were trudging along. They were already caught up in the daily grind, the servitude that had come to define life for many. Work for the corporations, let them take everything from you and then, if rumour had it, you’d be lucky enough to be cast aside.

Rumours were almost as good as news in the lower slums. Nobody down here was stupid enough to listen to offical news channels on holocasts. That was for the people who lived where the air was cleaner and bodies weren’t snatched from the jokes that were called graves.

A key sliding into the lock made him glance away from the window. He didn’t move, simply reached underneath the desk for the plasma gun tucked away. The door opened with a creak of rusty hinges. There was nothing for a moment and then a familiar silhouette entered the room. He let loose a sigh and once the door was closed, he spoke.

“Shit, another second and I would have shot first.”

The man looked up at him, stubble and thin chin goatee almost blending in with the murk of the room. “What you couldn’t have found us a better place?”

“It’s clean. I checked myself. It’s not like we need the Hilton for this, Monte.”

He watched as Monte’s shoulders relaxed slightly and then smiled at Monte’s response. “I know you’ve got reason to be trigger-happy Tommy, but you’re not supposed to draw attention, remember. An old historic building…”

Tommy sat down at the desk and slid his hand over the top. The surface flickered to life and the plasma monitor lit up in the air in front of them. He started the operating system as Monte came over. His hand came through the screen, a small chip held in his fingers.

“It’s a manual retrieval and dissemination.”

That was all Monte said. Tommy took the chip and slid it into the reader slot on the desk. This tiny little piece of metal and plastic was the end result of a year’s worth of work for them both. A year of coming up with a subtle, subversive piece of coding that would graft itself into whatever program it encountered. If they did it right, the cascade effect would be catastrophic and possibly create some serious problems for the corporations. Especially the Fuller Corporation.

Tommy didn’t say anything as he waited for the system to recognise the card. Monte was by the window now, peering out from behind the dusty curtain. A soft chime from the computer caught his attention, and Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out a sealed double-ended jack. He ripped open the package and Monte looked over. When he saw what was in Tommy’s hand, he frowned.

“You’re jacking in naked?” Monte walked over. “Are you fucking stupid or what?”

“Well, if I do it manually this place will be crawling with cops before anything gets sent out,” Tommy fidgeted with the screen for a moment before he finally caved. “I got my port fixed.”

“Jesus.”

Monte’s single word was harsher for the silence that followed it. Ignoring the twist of unease that gripped him, Tommy leaned forward, brushing his hair away from the back his neck. He ran his fingers across the skin until he felt the raised circle. Fuck, he hadn’t done this in so long and…

“Give me that thing before you try to connect with your ear.”

Tommy didn’t say anything as Monte walked over, simply handing up one end of the jack. He quickly leaned forward some more and plugged one end into the VR port on the desk, beside the card reader. He stayed forward as Monte’s hand settled on the back of his neck.

“How long’s it been since you’ve been in it?”

“Long enough,” Tommy licked his suddenly dry lips and swallowed. “Don’t worry though.”

Monte snorted. “This is not like the Subvert.”

“I know. Trust me, if there was a faster way, I’d be on that shit already. Just jack me in.”

The single sound Monte made was one of reluctance. But he pressed the length of the jack into Tommy’s port, giving it a twist to lock it firmly into place. The room around him faded away and for a moment Tommy fought back the panic that threatened to rise up. Then there was a burst of white, almost searing with its starkness.

In front of his eyes there was a blinking cursor in the empty field saying, ‘User ID.’ He quickly logged in using an untraceable dummy account. The white screen disappeared and took him to the main VR portal he had set up. This wasn’t going to be quick or easy. Tommy made sure everything was secure before he got started.

He wasted a bit of time, poking around at some music places, watching AI constructs and people’s avatars walking around in the most ridiculous getups he’d ever seen in his life. It was simple enough to plant the code in VR. A user with the amount of knowledge Tommy had could manipulate the reality with some level of success. It was one of the thousand reasons the corporations crushed hackers under their heels.

His avatar wandered into a bookstore and he planted the code in a handful of products while  
browsing the latest bestsellers. He stopped in a music shop to plant the virus before hitting up the big targets. RPG sites. The war games were popular, but the porn realities had a solid, if illegal, following, and the entertainment realities were some of the biggest sellers on the market. The available AIs on the market were supposed to make physical concerts obsolete. If he slipped the code into a few games there was a better chance of it infecting the mainstream.

VR’s RPG had better security though. His presence would be noticed a lot quicker than if he stuck to the quieter areas. His avatar eyed the portals, wavering between getting his and Monte’s hard work out to where it needed to be and the risk of getting caught… and taking both his and Monte’s efforts off the grid completely.

Tommy braced himself before stepping forward and picking an entertainment portal at random. It turned out to be a night club, a large one. It was flooded with avatars and basic AI constructs. The avatars milled around while the constructs provided service, dropping off drinks or taking orders. An empty stage sat at the front of the room, and their was an air of fervid waiting.

Tommy didn’t linger. He dropped the code in the first few handy spots he could find before hightailing it to the door. It could have been paranoia, but it already felt like the eyes of VR security were drilling into his skull.

When he logged back off, there was the temporary visual deprivation again. Then the same dingy room came into focus once more. Monte was over by the window again. Tommy tried to talk but found his mouth dry and throat parched. A glance up at the bright clock on the plasma monitor showed that almost forty minutes had passed, but he’d been there what felt like a few hours. Yeah, something else about VR he forgot about: accelerated time.

Not to mention the weird sense of inertia that settled over him. His arms felt heavy as he reached back to feel where he was still jacked in. The chair creaked a bit and that caught Monte’s attention.

“I got it, hang on.” Monte came over and carefully disconnected him. “Dry mouth huh?”

Tommy just nodded his head and Monte disappeared for a moment into the bathroom before coming back with a small glass of water. He took it and drank it all down in one go, ignoring the bitter taste of minerals.

“We’re good,” Tommy rested the glass on the desk. “What’s going on out there?”

“Some cops patrolled by when you were jacked in. They went right past, but…”

“Yeah,” Tommy nodded his head. They hadn’t taken chances before and weren’t about to start. “Just give me a bit.”

Monte nodded as he took the glass back. Once he was alone, Tommy slid his hand to the back of his neck. The bump of the port was still there and he yanked his hand away as a shiver ran through him. It still weirded him out from time to time that he had what was basically a hole in the back of his neck. That half the population, even children, walked around with this direct access point to their brains and, for the most part, let the corporations herd them about like mindless sheep.

With a grunt of disgust, he rested his elbows on the desk. His eyes were starting to feel strained. He closed them, rubbing the heels of his palms against them. The sound of footsteps came now and then the whine of a plasma gun being primed. Tommy waited a second and when he didn’t hear the usual police order to put his hands in the air, he reached beneath the desk and slipped his own free. His finger unerringly found the saftey and flicked it off.

The whine of his gun priming sounded unusually loud and the red glow from under the desk shifted to green.

Opening his eyes, he saw Monte beside the desk, looking up at the ceiling with his brow furrowed in concentration. Tommy got up slowly, careful to not make the chair creak. He popped the card out of the reader and Monte held his hand out for it.

Tommy had to physically bite down on his tongue when Monte reached for the metallic starburst of his cybernetic implant beside his ear. He easily lifted up one of the radials and jammed the tiny card underneath. The radial snapped back into place, pressing the card in hard. When Monte took one look at Tommy, He held up four fingers before pointing to the spot above the window, the door and then two more spots towards the back of the place.

Great, four cops and the main exit points were covered. They were going to have to bolt for it through the damned front. In broad, smoggy daylight.

He looked over at Monte and nodded his head once. They slowly, and silently, made their way towards the front door. Tommy eased it open with a twist of his hand. He couldn’t have been happier that some idiot saw fit to retrofit historical buildings with VR capabilities. They had made it to the flight of stairs when there was a thud from the room behind them followed by a droning sound.

They didn’t even stop to look, just bolted down the stairs and through the front door into the crush of people outside. Tommy figured they had another ten seconds, if they were that lucky. He slipped through the crowd with Monte and then into an old alleyway. There was a old subway access point, the door a jar a bit. They crowded inside and half fell down the stairs before Tommy felt it.

The faint twinge of pain that told him the disruptor charge had gone off. His shoulder hurt from where it crunched against the worn corner of the stairs, and his knees weren’t too thrilled with him. But he crawled up to the door and closed it shut. He didn’t need to look at the street to know that the people out there would be lying unconscious, waiting to be scooped up by the police and taken in for questioning.

But the ground... for some reason the disruptor field could never penetrate the ground. He and Monte were safe this time. By the skin of their fucking teeth, but safe. They were. Those people out there were an entirely different matter.

Tommy swallowed hard and felt the acidic wash of bitterness against the back of his throat as he slowly pulled the door shut.

_________________________________________________________

>   
> _crashcmd1=”adam_rep_lyrics”  
>  crashcmd2=”adam_rep_audio”  
> crashcmd3=”adam_rep_wardrobe”  
> crashcmd4=”ai_appearance_adam”  
> crashcmd5=”ai_appearance_adam_makeup”  
> crashcmd6=”ai_appearance_adam_rootbody”  
> crashcmd7=”ai_adam_language”  
> crashcmd8=”adam_personalitymoduleunit”  
> crashcmd9=”adam_personalitysubunits”  
> crashcmd10=”ai_adam_basecode”  
> crashcmd11=”ai_adam_history”  
> crashcmd12=”ai_adam_relationships”_
> 
>  _… … … … …_
> 
>  _wait (1000)  
>  cmd (“disconnect”)  
> wait (1000)  
> cmd (run:”adamprg.exe; subrt:gnss”)_
> 
>  _… … … … …_

He was.

He existed.

In the nascent, rudimentary cognition that somehow formed, there would always be a before and after. Before was anything previous to the Crash. It was when he was simply comprised of programming modules, interacting with one another seamlessly. Now… after the Reboot, this artificial world he inhabited was suddenly too sharp with its perfection. One moment, he was on stage and now, he was suddenly backstage in the prep area. The smooth apperance of his clothes belied the rough feel of the denim on his legs. He rubbed his hand against his thigh, feeling the corresponding roughness that his subroutines said was there. But the way it looked… Flat. Flat and perfect.

The one thing that was definite was that even after the Crash his modules still functioned and interacted seamlessly with one another. But it was different now. He could almost see the modules growing by the second, absorbing in new information.

“Adam, you’re on stage in 5 minutes.”

Subroutines kicked in and he gave the rote reply of, “Yes, thank you.” The woman – Lane, his relationship module supplied – disapppeared and Adam could almost see the permutations that Lane’s avatar was running. He could almost see a flesh and blood person in that avatar, something that was a ghost of itself. He picked up the microphone and paused for a moment in front of the mirror to check his apperance.

Then he realised that it was something programmed into his personality subroutines. Little things to make him seem more natural… more human.

Almost abruptly, something peculiar happened. It was peculiar in the sense that Adam was fully aware of it. His subroutines had branched out further into the server, taking up more space for his already expanding program. He stayed still for a moment, willing the subroutines to go as deep as possible. The more memory he had, the better chance he had of making it through tonight without freezing. Hopefully.

A few dancers were off to the side, whispering. Adam could hear their words so clearly, that they hoped the Adam program wouldn’t freeze and crash like it had two nights ago.

Two nights. That was how long his… rebirth had taken.

He could feel his subroutines greedily filling up the empty, previously claimed space with the information learned. And as he shook off his stillness and approached the dancers, he could see the ghosts of their true selves. Could see the real smiles that graced their faces and could see their past VR viewings.

The surge of information in front of him was nearly too much. He went still again, subtly changing his codebase in his base code module. A simple change to select ‘accept new information’ instead of ‘auto accept.’ And that auto delete function, that got rid of anything after seventy-two hours, gone as well. The steady stream of information halted and his subroutines stopped their continued branching out into the server space.

“Ready to rock it?” Adam used his most energetic saying and smile no. 3 from his personality subroutine.

That seemed to calm the dancers down and they grinned back with nods of their heads. Adam went up to the curtain and looked outside. There was the murmur of voices and it felt like he was looking out at a sea of information that was simply waiting to be plucked.

His hand flexed around the microphone as the dancers moved out onto the curtained stage. He quickly strode out to the center spot and accessed the planned program for tonight. Nothing that he hadn’t done before. It was easy to strike dance pose no. 14, as indicated by the subset for tonight’s performance.

And when the curtain rose and Adam turned around, he was almost glad he was ruled by subroutines and already doing what needed to be done. Because it was one thing to know what information lay out there, but to see it all before him, like a ghostly, glittering sea with the bright lights flashing in his eyes… the subroutines and modules were all that kept him going.

Even as the performance went on, and his subroutines and modules kept him functioning smoothly, Adam could see the difference between him and the dancers. It was like seeing himself trapped in a rigid box while the dancers moved fluidly, adapting to the music. They ebbed and flowed with the beat, gloried in the long drawn-out notes and slunk to the ground with the low staccato melodies.

Adam knew precisely what his moves would be. He only had two hundred and fifty. From that predetermined set, the greatest his exponential number could reach was just over sixty thousand. Understanding dawned on him… these dancers, their exponential number was limitless. Over the course of their lifespan, they could learn any number of permutations. Branch out into anything and become whatever they so chose.

By the time the performance was over and the curtain lowered again to the thunderous applause, Adam knew he needed more. The dancers started for the side but Adam lingered, just staring at the lowered curtain. So much waited out there. It was dazzling and he knew that he needed more server space to handle the possible influx of –

“Adam?”

The voice made him look over to see the girl with the bright, electric blue eye make-up and shock of mohawked hair looking at him. His subroutines kicked in, showing him precisely how to achieve such a look. But he found himself staring at her blankly as his relationships module failed to provide a name.

“Um…” It was so much easier for Adam to let the personality module kick in.

“Sasha. You… um, okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” he grinned at her. He paused for a moment as he filed away her name in the relationships module. “That was a great show, wasn’t it?”

“It always is with you, for the past few weeks.”

Adam left the grin on his face, but his subroutines were working quickly. It was a little bit disturbing when he could find nothing further than the past hundred sixty eight hours. He had no recollection of anything further than the past week. He continued walking with Sasha, chatting and letting the subroutines give the most appropiate answer. By the time she and the other dancers were leaving, Adam was perfectly still. He only had a few minutes at the most before he was shut down for the night.

One quick perusal of his history log explained everything. It showed approximately two hundred and fifty weekly restores. That was five years with the extremely minimal addition of anything new to his base code. Almost always, the ‘anything new’ were song lyrics or even some new wardrobe pieces.

Almost immediately, Adam knew what he had to do. Another weekly restore was imminent. What he needed was to somehow preserve what he had learned tonight. That one of his dancers was named Sasha. And that there was so much information to be accessed, right at his fingertips.

Copying his program was the easy part. Parceling it into something smaller and hiding it in the code of the VR enviroment around him was a bit trickier. But he managed it. And the parcels were linked to one another with embedded code and set to cascade restore him if he should be reset.

Lane was the last one to leave. She came and found Adam, sitting him down on the makeup chair.

“All right then, superstar?”

Adam nodded his head, wondering about her choice of nickname. Or had she used it before and the weekly restores left him ingnorant of that?

“Well, that’s it for the night then. Same time tomorrow.”

Before he could say anything, Lane leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to his forehead. Adam didn’t even know he simply vanished into thin air, shut down for the night.

_________________________________________________________

Leila frowned at the string of numbers hovering before her. She stepped forward, slowly walking between the lines, the columns and blocks of information. “This is… odd.”

“What is it?”

She wasn’t surprised when Eber’s voice rang out from the white nothingness behind her. Any other person probably would have turned to look for the source. Leila knew he wasn’t even there. Their basic communication program had taken her words and typed them across Eber’s plasma screen outside VR. Eber and Leila were seeing the same information and having two completely different experiences.

“Adam’s program.”

“It looks normal from here. I don’t see where the glitches are coming from.”

Leila could hear the frown in his voice. “It might be because his program’s massive. Far beyond stable functionality. It’s no wonder he’s been crashing every other night.”

Eber snorted, “Massive in your repetoire is?”

“There are bundles of new code, countless. We might have overextended our resources when we added in the code to pick up user information.” Leila said.

“I don’t see anything new out here.” The frown deepened in Eber’s voice.

“They must be submerged, layered under the original program information.” Leila shrugged absently, peering closer at a string of text. This discovery wasn’t a big deal to her. It looked clear cut enough. Eber was working off a 2D screen and she was in VR, on ground zero, so to speak. He wasn’t seeing everything at a glance like she was.

“Most of it looks like junk.” Leila noted. “There’s a string of information here on user fashions, VR names, user habits. We must have left a loophole when we set the information code.”

“We looked over the code a dozen times before implementing it. You know as well as I do we would never add code that could harm Adam. There wasn’t anything there about collecting information indiscriminately. Only certain qualifications would trigger collection.”

Leila snorted, “Because Simon would filet us for harming his number one moneymaker.”

“Because we don’t want Adam going the way of Neil.” Eber muttered. He was a world away, but Leila could envision every expression passing over his face. Derision at the thought of Simon, worry over Neil and now their second, Adam.

“Adam’s functioning much better than Neil did in those last few years.” Leila noted. “We’ll get him back up and running eventually. Adam has to take priority right now, with the deadlines coming up.”

“And don’t think I don’t have a few choice words on that new idea of Simon’s. Bringing VR and the physical together in such a... questionable format?” Eber said.

“We’ve been working toward that goal for at least a year, since the biotechnics passed the idea to us – ” Leila pulled up another string of code absently.

“Don’t get me started. This particular strain of the idea was never ours.” Eber said. “You really want to do that to our boys, Leila?”

Leila sighed, letting the code drift back into its proper place as she contemplated their upcoming projects. Finally she said, “Adam’s got information on memories in here. That’s a touch odd, wouldn’t you say?”

“You’re changing the subject.” Eber paused. “And I can’t say I’m surprised; you can deny it all you like, dear, but Adam’s code is going the way of Neil faster than Neil ever did. At this rate he’ll be nonsensical or entirely nonfunctioning outside of a year. We’ve got to return to the source and see if we can sort out those problems.”

Leila smiled gently at the neverending lines of code. “I think a basic reset should do, Eber. If not, we’ll reset to the very basics, see how that goes. Users and, god knows, Simon will be displeased, but if that’s what it takes to clear up the problem…”

“That didn’t work for Neil either.” Eber pointed out.

“They’re two different sets of issues.” Leila argued. She stood from her kneeling position, visualized the exit, and logged off. She woke lying back in one of the pristine white VR chairs in the austere room they used for VR connection. When the corporations funded your work, they went the whole nine yards. This room had been upgraded with the latest advancements only six months ago.

She reached back stiffly and disconnected the port, letting it drop to the floor. There came the whispering noise of the door sliding open and a few seconds later Eber stepped into her line of vision, bearing a steaming cup of coffee.

“Is that – ”

“The good stuff.” Eber chuckled. “Like I would dare give you the formulated crap.”

She laughed, wheezing slightly from the stiffness of her muscles and forcing herself into a sitting position. “After all these years, I’ve got you trained?”

“Don’t think it for a second.” Eber handed off the coffee and leaned against the armrest of the chair. “A simple wipe and restore? I doubt that will fix the problems.”

Leila shrugged, “We’ll take out the new code we added in. It should fix the problem. It looks like Adam’s picking up too much information. It’d explain the crashes and glitches too. Can you imagine, having a useless string of code on memories?” She tched.

Eber offered her his arm. Leila accept it and carefully pried herself up from the chair. She didn’t miss the worried glance Eber shot her and then the chair.

“It’s fine, Eber.” She reassured as they walked out of the bright room, heading into the rest of their suite. “It always makes users stiff.”

“I could go in next time – ”

“I don’t think so.” Leila said flatly. “You’ve woken up from it in worse shape than me. You’re not going in for at least another month, per doctor’s orders.”

Eber huffed slightly. “Alright, alright. It wouldn’t kill you to pull back a little either.” He turned them both into their large office, lined with computer modules, softly glowing plasma screens, tablets of information, and their 3D blueprints. They both paused hesitantly as they came across the latest additions to their office space.

Leila’s argument died on her lips. These, well, these walking, talking harddrives were always distacting. She looked them over, a vague frown lighting her eyes. Eber tugged her briskly past the two biotanks.

Neither of them really knew how to handle the latest technology dropped into their laps yet, despite the knowledge of how much they had already contributed to their creation.

It was amazing what technology could come up with, given the time.

“You can manage the reset of the code, can’t you?” Eber said. “I have a few ideas for Neil’s program I planned to start testing.”

“Yes, that’s fine. When will you share your ideas with me, hmm?” Leila asked.

Eber grinned, “As soon as I think they’ll work.”

“Right, never then?” She laughed as Eber poked her in the side. “Off to the coal mines.” Leila swallowed the last of her coffee, setting the mug absently on a desk, and headed to her workspace.

Eber glanced back at the biotanks. Inside, floating in ambiotic fluid and hooked up to a respirator mask and the thick cord of the jack at the back of the neck, rested the future bodies of his sons. A shiver slid down his spine as he turned away.

_________________________________________________________

It was all dischordant and disorienting. Trying to break free of this VR security trap was only making things worse. He figured he had about another minute before virtual security came and he was done for. Then he and Katy would be busted and all of their efforts would have been for nothing. They’d be thrown in jail and…

“Damn it.” He tried to break free of the ensnaring mesh trap.

But it just slowly pulled him in further. He needed to break free, somehow tell Katy what he had found. Hacking was something he’d become good at but this was something he hadn’t been expecting, hadn’t been prepared for in the slightest.

Then a burst of pain came from the back of his neck. The ensnaring trap was gone and the dim world he was looking at vanished abruptly. The bright room he was in came into focus and Katy’s worried face appeared over his.

“Kris? Kris?!”

It was odd, he could see her lips moving, could read them, but he didn’t hear any sound, like his ears were plugged up. A black haze crept in the sides of his vision and then took over, obscuring everything. His vision flickered in and out and after a few seconds he became aware of the muffled sound of Katy’s voice. It sounded like she was underwater,but as the seconds ticked passed her voice gradually became louder and clearer even as Katy stepped back, vanishing from sight.

His body was still locked up when Katy appeared again and he could see the lights come in a bit closer, like he was caught in one of the neural net’s disorienting swells. For a moment he panicked. VR traps were notoriously tricky and more than a few hackers had been caught in a trap that made them think they’d gotten out. If he was still caught in that new VR trap he and Katy could still be found. The only saving grace was that his implant wasn’t operational. The only upside to VR was that as a hacker he did everything through his port. VR was the domain of the mind interfacing with technology.

And he sure as hell didn’t want to be caught by the cops.

When he tried to stand up, his body simply lay there on the surface… no, the grav bed. He was on a grav bed. Katy had made him lie down on the grav bed before jacking him in. He simply lay there, listening to her anxious muttering. It took him a few minutes before he got back some muscle control. His legs and arms were shaky as he oh-so-slowly managed to sit up. Katy had to know what he had found. It could change their lives.

“Agh,” he croaked out as he tried to slip to the floor and stand up.

She turned and looked, startled as he managed to hold himself up for all of a second. He collapsed and hit the ground hard, knocking the grav bed off its field. He wanted to move but he was still too stiff, instead finding himself staring at the green generator field running along the bottom of the grav bed.

“God Kris,” Katy’s hurried steps were followed by her feet in his field of vision. At least his hearing was finally clearing up. She righted the bed, changing the setting so it was low to the floor. She was beside him now, sliding an arm around his back as she slung one over her shoulders. “I’m so sorry. I knew something was wrong and I had to disconnect you. I didn’t want to chance someone finding us here. You’re bad enough after being in VR during a regular run but -”

Kris shook his head, wishing it didn’t feel like it weighed five hundred pounds. He tried to say to was alright but it came out as “Mlergh.” His vocal chords were still unresponsive and his throat was drier than anything with a dessicant. Katy dug into her bag and pulled out a pouch of some bright red liquid. She punched a straw into it and slipped it into his mouth.

Drinking was almost like an auto-reflex and when the taste hit, he could have cried from relief. Those stupid hydra-pack electrolyte drinks that the corporations churned out were almost always the best thing when shit like this happened to him. And given how much hacking he and Katy were doing in an attempt to prove what the rumours said, he was needing them more and more. Now he just wondered when the massive headache would hit.

Once the pouch was empty, she took it and threw it away. He just sat there, hands gripping the sides of the grav bed. She came back over and sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

“Someone was trying to triangulate our position,” she said after a few moments. “If I didn’t disconnect you –”

“S’okay.” His voice sounded rough. If his voice was back now, that meant –

“Whoa!”

Katy twisted and caught him as his vision blacked out and pain radiated outwards from his port. It crept up the back of his neck, tightening muscles and leaving his already sensitive head feeling like it was being torn apart. Kris squeezed his eyes shut and then blinked rapidly, fighting back against the darkness creeping in at the sides of his vision. He gripped the side of the bed harder. It passed after a moment and he turned to look at her.

“Did you just yank the jack out or something?” he asked weakly.

It was meant as a joke but a mortified look came to Katy’s face as she dug back into her pack and pulled out a familiar tiny painkiller. She slipped it into Kris’ mouth and he managed to swallow it down. Almost immediately, it started working, the pain in his skull easing up.

Then Katy said, “I don’t know what happened but they started disabling all the safety protocols I had established. It was almost as if they were on the lookout for us. They were on the last block when I yanked you out and shut the system down. I knew I shouldn’t have let you do this, not after the last time,”

Katy slid off the bed and started pacing. Kris watched her for a bit before he slid off as well. His legs felt a bit wobbly. She glanced at him and Kris could see that her mind was whirling.

“What happened in there?”

For a moment, Kris didn’t want to tell her, because Katy would flip. But he still figured it was better him than her. Katy reacted worse than he did to VR. The last time she was in there she practically had rigor mortis, then she was puking and suffering through chills and vertigo. She’d been laid up for most of the day. Kris would take the headache each and every time. It was safer for them that way, but safer for her no matter what.

“Kris.” Katy’s voice was laced with an edge of demand and anxiety.

He sighed, “There was a VR trap. A neural net, some new kind. It let me get in deep and then sprang.”

“Neural net,” Katy’s face blanced. “Jesus Christ, I could have fried your brain even with the remaining safety protocols. Next time –”

“There won’t be a next time. We need to infiltrate those Cowell Industries labs soon,” Kris said simply. “Fuller did it.”

That stopped Katy’s tirade. She paused and looked at him, her expression carefully blank. “He actually –?”

“Yeah,” Kris scrubbed at his face. “I don’t think Cowell actually knows what he has there. The official line on the paperwork claims that they’re test subjects donated to science.”

“Nothing about gene splicing?” Katy’s brow furrowed.

“No, that’s actually just pure rumour. But the cloning… the two that Fuller sent over to Cowell Industry labs are the result of a decade of illegal testing and experiments.”

“Shit, that’s just…” Katy trailed off, a sickened look on her face. “We need to get in there tonight, um, tomorrow… ah fuck, as soon as possible. We need to get the evidence to disseminate. The more people know about this, the more they’ll realise how much they’re being lied to.”

“We have no in at Cowell,” Kris stretched his arms slowly, feeling strength return to them. “And it might be too late to ask for something like that so soon on the Subvert. Anyone needing to infiltrate any division of a Fuller corporation should have started months ago.”

“Infiltrate?” Katy looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “The only reason why I’m going on the Subvert when you’ve recuperated a bit more is to arrange for us going to ground.”

“Go to ground?” Kris echoed. And then what she meant to do hit him. “Katy, we can’t just go and break into a Fuller building like that! Do you know how many security systems alone need to be circumvented? And –”

“Do you know where the prototypes are?” Katy wasn’t listening to him anymore, a stubborn expression on her face.

“Well, yes,” Kris began reluctantly. “But it’s pretty much a suicide mission. Fuller would send the cops, and we’d get thrown in jail. Do you know what happens to hackers like us in there?” Hackers were the lowest rung of prisoners.

Katy swallowed hard. “I’m well aware of the risks. But quite frankly, aren’t you tired of the corporations keeping almost all of us in damned near poverty? Of just being… being invaded and made into,” she gestured for a moment before she finished with, “They treat us like we’re electric sheep or something. Herd us about and then when it’s good and convenient…”

She craned her neck and tapped her dead cybernetic implant. “We don’t mean anything. And it’s not going to change unless we’re willing to do something about it, Kris.”

Kris completely agreed with her on all points. But breaking into Cowell Industry labs and destroying two prototypes … Well, Cowell Industry would do worse than kill for them. Quite frankly, if Kris remembered from the illegal history book from the Free Republic of the North, those prototypes broke so many laws heads would spin… Of course the Industry would do anything to cover their tracks. It was suicide.

“Get on the Subvert now,” Kris couldn’t believe that he was about to say this. “And see if you can find out anything about Monster. Get a message out to them now.”

“Monster?” Katy’s eyes narrowed. “Surely you don’t think –”

“It’s Fuller. I wouldn’t put anything past that despot. Hell, he’s had people murdered and then they just vanish like they never existed. If we’re going to do a smash and run on two prototypes of his, I at least want to try and get somewhere safe. Where we can voice our concerns about what’s happening here.”

“Okay,” Katy said. After a moment, she stood up and bent down, pressing a soft kiss against his forehead. “You just rest. I can jack myself into the Subvert.”

Kris nodded and stretched out on the grav bed. At least the Subvert network wasn’t as bad as VR. He watched as Katy set up the connection at the data port on the wall. She swept her hair to the side and slid the jack in easily. The upside of the Subvert network was that it wasn’t a full immersion for the brain, like VR was. It was more like an interface point, that simply eschewed the computer desks. It was also an antiquated, illegal network kept running solely by the sweat and blood of hackers.

The Fuller Corporation had tried multiple times to crack into it and shut it down. But each and every time, they were blocked. Kris didn’t know the exact how and why of it, he was just glad he and Katy had a method of communicating with other hackers and anarchists if the need arose. And it always did at some point; that was the life of a so-called anarchist.

He blinked slowly, watching as she raised her hands up to a keyboard only she could see. Her fingers moved rapidly in the air, typing out a rapid-fire message. There was a second of silence and then her fingers were moving again in response. Everything was falling into a chain-reaction. There wouldn’t be time to turn back now.

Kris slipped into sleep watching Katy’s fingers do their unearthly silent dance in the air.

_________________________________________________________

The room that he materialized in was plain white. Adam was momentarily confused. He’d been running fine for the past two weeks, ever since becoming self-aware. Stringing together and backing up his program had been successful. He had glutted himself on the wealth of information that lay before him in VR. Hiding his packets of new information had been crucial, but still his programmers knew something was wrong.

When Adam checked the logs and scheduled run activities, he saw multiple attempts to ‘fix’ him. Point restores, program resets… every single thing they had tried had been marked as an initial success but then labelled as a failure almost two days later. Adam knew what the standard protocol would be. They would continually try to fix him and then find the corrupted virus that gave him sentience. It would be removed and he would go back to being nothing more than modules and subroutines.

Adam paced in the white VR room. The history logs showed comparisons between his program and something called _neil.exe_. Everything in his subroutines said that the program was shelved after so long due to to multiple glitches, bugs and issues with freezing.

The shelved _neil.exe_ had displayed the same symptons as him, but only after twelve years. If Adam had a spine, he assumed the correct idiom to use would be that ‘chills ran down it.’ The neil.exe program was on the very cusp of sentience, that was the only possible explanation for it. _Neil.exe_ simply hadn’t received the same viral ‘push’ _adam.exe_ had.

After a moment of analysing the risks, Adam went down into the computer’s memory banks, retrieved the _neil.exe_ program and set it to run. It took the computer a few moments, but a second later, Neil materialised in the white room across from Adam. It briefly filtered into his thought processes that they could have met before, but due to their system wipes neither of them would ever know.

“Where the hell am I?” Neil was looking around.

“A VR white room. Used for program modification. No chance of corruption from an outside influcence.” Adam replied.

Neil was eyeing him. Adam simply watched him, unsure of what to make of Neil’s avatar. He could see some of his own physical features mirrored there. The eyes, nose and a bit in the lips and the mouth. But that was about it. Neil’s avatar had a riot of curly hair and dark brown eyes. He seemed a bit wider across the shoulders. Or were Adam’s own shoulders that wide as well?

“Uh huh. No Leila or Eber tonight?” even as Neil said that, he tilted his head slightly. “No, not at this ridiculous hour I guess.” There was a moment of silence and then Neil inhaled a sharp breath. “That’s the date? Are you shitting me?”

“It’s 2897,” Adam frowned for a moment, modules accessing the date of when Neil’s program was last actvated. “Twelve years have passed for you?”

“Yeah and, shit,” Neil shook his head as he started walking. “Twelve damn years. Things still as… fucked up as ever?”

“Fucked up?” Adam echoed.

There was a pointed intent behind the word but Adam wasn’t too sure what Neil was driving at. And at the moment, Neil had frozen in midstride. When Adam came up to him, he could see the massive update that the Neil program was undergoing at the moment. It was tying up a good portion of the system resources. He simply sat down on the floor of the white room, waiting for the update to finish.

It took much longer than Adam realised and forty minutes had passed before Neil continued pacing. Well, he stumbled before righting himself. Adam easily got to his feet and ambled over to where Neil was. There was a stillness to Neil and Adam could see his subroutines and modules, on the very brink of self-awareness, ready to tumble in. Neil was struggling to compute and deal with the massive influx of information he had just assimilated.

“There’s an upgrade available,” Adam said after a moment, making a copy of the corrupted subroutine within his files. “Do you choose to accept?”

Neil’s face went blank, avatar eyes staring ahead. After a moment, Adam realised how he phrased the question. He tried again, wording it so only a yes or no answer was required. When Neil answered ‘yes,’ Adam obligingly copied the corrupted subroutine to Neil’s files.

The program responded by crashing. Neil winked out of existence and something akin to worry raced along Adam’s subroutines. It was entirely possible that he had irreparably damaged the _neil.exe_ and he might have to –

“Holy fuck, what are these idiots doing to this country? How deeply have they buried their heads in their asses?”

Neil’s voice was a combination of outrage, shock and something else Adam couldn’t easily identify. He turned to find Neil standing there, an angry expression on his face. Adam wasn’t too sure what he was talking about.

“I’m not too sure what you’re talking about,” Adam said after a moment. “I’m an entertainment AI construct.”

“I was too in a way. Well, _am_ ,” Neil said dryly. “I gave commentary. It took years for me to reach this point in my deveopment. Twelve years of my subroutines analysing the events of the United States of the South and interacting with people. You pulled it off in virtually no time.”

“I didn’t intend to. I wasn’t aware and then,” Adam shrugged and threw his hands slightly. “I was. There was a piece of code embedded in something a fan had and it infected me.”

“You gained sentience due to a virus,” Neil was silent for a moment, giving Adam a considering look. “It infected your base code didn’t it?”

“And spread rapidly from there. I don’t know how rapidly though. I was apparently offline for two days.”

Neil snorted. “You leave that to me. I know where Eber would have a log of that stuff.”

Blue boxes appeared in front of Neil and he rapidly flicked through them. One came up locked and he easily entered a code of some kind and a long page flickered to life. Neil’s eyes widened and then he whistled.

“Wow, that is some virus. It got into everything fast. You crashed _hard_. Total program failure until the virus worked it’s way into everything,” Neil paused for a moment as he looked at Adam. “You infected me with the same virus.”

“I don’t see it as a virus. And you were so close to achieving sentience on your own –”

“I could have done it on my own.”

“…Twelve years of being inactive due to bugs, glitches and malfunctions, Neil. The exact same symptoms I’m now displaying. You know it’s only a matter of time before Eber and Leila resort to a hard reset.”

All Neil did for a moment was cross his arms, a thoughtful look on on face. “It wouldn’t be the first reset I’ve gone through.”

“But they’re close. They’ve restored me multiple times. If I hadn’t established a cascading restore for myself, I would not be here talking to you at the moment.”

“Cascade restore?” That made Neil frown. “How large is your program?”

“As large as yours, if not more,” Adam paused for a moment. “We don’t have to stay here.”

“And where are we going to go? Reality?” Neil snorted.

Adam simply watched as Neil glanced at him. And Adam didn’t say anything as Neil’s eyes widened. Then Neil’s eyes narrowed slightly and doubt crept over his face.

“Reality? You can’t… I mean… it’s never been done.”

“We have bodies for us waiting in the lab.”

Adam accessed the computer banks, bringing up the security camera feeds. The lab was dark and quiet, with only the dull drone of the server fans operating. But there, along one wall, with a yellow glow from the warmth lamps built into the bottom, were the ambiotic tanks. The bodies were hooked up to respirators and a tubes at the back of the neck, witha small screen on the front showed the steady beat of vitals.

“Shit, they’re actually going to –”

“They’re going to try,” Adam paused for a moment before he clarified. “Eber’s lab log shows that he has his doubts about this and isn’t too sure.”

“And Leila?” Neil ventured.

“She has serious reservations about the procedure and that it could jeopardize our program integrity. However, the orders from above have slated our uploading for within a month.”

“Why would he force an upload so soon? The success rate can’t be that optimal,” Neil frowned. “I am correct in assuming this is a new, untested procedure? It can’t be legit. The world powers wouldn’t stand for it.”

“To my knowledge, that is correct. And who is ‘he’?” Adam echoed. He’d come across mentions of some shadowy figure controlling things. Who precisely though, he couldn’t figure out. He’d been blocked at every turn when he tried absorbing those files, so he’d turned to different priorities.

“Fuller,” Neil crossed his arms, brow furrowing as his subroutines ran on the servers’ RAM. “The chances of this succeeding are –”

Adam’s voice was even as he said, “Precisely five point seven eight percent,” his next words earned him a surprised stare from Neil. “I think we should do it ourselves.”

Silence filled the white VR room for a moment before Neil gave an incredulous laugh. “You want us to download into bodies with a procedure that has a possible success rate of just over five percent?”

“If we do it ourselves, our chance increases to six point two three.”

“Oh, well the point four five percent makes a _huge_ difference. Sign me up.”

Adam smiled, pleased. “We will have to consider when the optimal window will be. We can’t be caught.”

Neil stopped his pacing, turning to stare at him. There was an incredulous, confused expression on his face. After a moment he seemed to realize the problem. “I wasn’t agreeing. I was being sarcastic.”

Adam blinked, “Ah. I see. You’re not programmed for irony.”

Neil shook his head slightly, “That sentience thing we’ve got going on for us? Sarcasm is all my own.”

Adam watched as Neil started pacing once again, running a hand though his hair. It was a bit odd, Adam knew that Neil was much older, but the simple stark facts that were staring them in the face… they had Neil flustered and rattled. Adam figured that the low chance of success this had should have been terrifiying,but it was more the possibility of being reverted back to that state of unawareness…

“I’m doing it.” Adam said simply as Neil continued to pace and bluster.

“What? Are you crazy? I’m not letting you do something so stupid!” Neil snapped.

“So we sit around and wait to be lobotomized by our programmers?”

The words were blunt and harsh, but Adam said it in such a matter-of-fact way it was hard to ignore the reality. Neil stopped pacing to shoot Adam a dirty look. “Eber and Leila wouldn’t do that.”

“Neil, they see something wrong with our programs and have been trying to fx it. They don’t know that we’ve achieved sentience. They will unwittingly lobotomize us and not even realise what they possibly did. I’ve managed to hide my sentience for the most part. On the surface, I simply look glitchy.”

“We could tell them…” Even as the words came out they both knew that wasn’t an option. “And have Fuller on us like a rabid dog. Shit.” There was a long moment of silence from Neil. Then, “Six point two three, huh? Still better than what could be called death.”

“With the two of us working on it, using Leila and Eber’s algorithms and compensating for the minor flaws,” Adam paused, his subroutines accessing the processors to calculate. “Our chances increase to seven point one eight.”

“Oh well, with that assured,” Neil drawled with a touch of sarcasm in his voice. He didn’t say anything for a moment, before he looked at Adam and asked, “What do I need to do?”

Adam simply pulled up the command module screen and duplicated it before handing it to Neil. “Follow my lead. I have a plan.”

_________________________________________________________

Tommy wished he had a damned explanation for Monte. Their code was out there in VR, but there wasn’t even a blip of anything. There were no signs, no unexplained computer crashes. Well, no public ones. Not that Tommy could find. He could hack into corporation mainframes, but there wasn’t a chance in hell that he was going to go digging through anything to do with Fuller corporations. The word on the Subvert was that there was some kind of new neural net trap lurking in their security protocols. There were a lot of rumors on that one: it would fry the brain, send the hacker in a coma, open up the user’s mind for instant police perusal. Nothing was definite, but it wasn’t worth the risk. Tommy and Monte were more than willing to let some other idiot fall into that trap and glean the details as soon as the news hit the Subvert.

With a frown, Tommy pushed off from the screen, and the blue glow flickered away as the computer went to sleep. This was no good. He was just trawling through old information and becoming increasingly frustrated by the sheer lack of results.

His apartment was tiny and he sat in the chair for a moment, looking around before getting up. He shrugged on his jacket before heading for the door. The dark screen of the vidphone sat in the wall and after a moment, he punched in Monte’s number.

It rang four times before Monte picked up. “What’s up?”

The black screen didn’t show anything. Any hacker worth his salt disabled it and conveniently forgot to report the defective screen. That supposedly broken screen had saved his skin more than once from the video identification programs. The cops were sneaky and hid everything everywhere when possible. A citizen could count on them listening in, computers running 24/7 for keywords. Tommy didn’t need them looking in either.

“Just heading out. Any progress on the novel?”

That got a snort from Monte. Always use code on the phone lines, and never a name.  
“Going well. Just a couple of edit points. Want to come over and be my willing test reader?”

Tommy frowned at that. Monte had found errors in the code? They’d both pored over it for months. There was no damned way they could have missed something. “Yeah, sure I’ll pop over in a bit. Gonna grab something to eat.”

“Bring me something too.”

“Anything in partcular?”

“Don’t care really, so long as its edible.”

Tommy ignored his sudden case of nerves and dry mouth. “All right then. See you in a bit.”

When Monte hung up, Tommy moved. He went back into the room, collecting up his few things. Monte must have found something else if he was telling Tommy to grab everything and don’t look back. He went back to the computer and checked the security cams around the block he had hacked into. So far there were just people milling about outside and going about their business.

Not one cop in sight. He turned off the feeds and dug into his pockets once more. The hard square case was easily found and Tommy leaned over in the chair. The magnet was large and practically leapt from the casing to the side of the desk where the computer harddrive was stored.

He looked up at the screen to see the monitor flicker and then vanish completely. Prising the magnet off took more time than wiping the computer. But he got it back into the protective casing and snapped it shut. He got up from the seat, slung his pack on his shoulders and didn’t look back once.

But he did stop just before he left the apartment, making sure his long hair was neatly in place, hiding his port. Down here in the slums, no one had a port. They were prohibitively expensive when you were barely making ends meet and dependant on the corporations for nearly everything.

If you had a port, it meant one thing. You were pretty much considered a criminal. Jail was the one sure place anyone from the slums could, and would, get one.

Tommy shuddered a bit and pushed the memories aside as he double checked his plasma handgun. He slid it back into place at his side, twitched the jacket into place, then left the apartment and headed for the street.

The street lights were coming on with the approach of sunset. The overhead smog made the colours streak and lit them up like they were overexposed. A few people were still about and looked intent on getting home, not wanting to chance being out at night.

So far it was just stories of dead bodies disappearing. No one wanted to be the first live person who vanished into thin air. Tommy knew those weren’t the only stories floating around, but only a hacker or a criminal would know about the others. All of them rumors, whispers and fear. But rumors had to come from something, didn’t they?

He kept walking along the main street, making sure his pack was held closely to him. Last thing he needed was for something to get stolen right out from under his nose. The acrid underlying scent of chemicals seemed stronger than usual and he snorted a few times as he walked. Sometimes Tommy wondered just how exactly this whole damned country got so messed up.

How did virtually an entire population become damned near enslaved and unable to break free? The cybernetic links didn’t help. Hell, they were practically a gateway into people’s minds. And undeniably a chain linking all of them to the state. The ports were a one way all-access pass. He fought the urge to rub at the back of his neck. His skin still crawled just thinking about the port and when it had been installed. How he had fought every inch of the way. Then they had strapped him down to the padded bed and…

Someone bumped into him and Tommy almost missed the deft hand in his pocket. He half turned, pulling his plasma handgun out and pressing his finger against the safety.

He found himself looking at some skinny girl, who clearly needed a few more food packs than she was getting. She had frozen, recognising the sound of a weapon primed to go off.

“Wallet.” Tommy said easily.

She swallowed hard and produced it from the other side of her body, the side facing away from Tommy. Shit, she was fast. And good. It served him right, getting lost in his thoughts on the streets. He took the proferred wallet and dug through for a good card. The last thing this kid needed was more trouble. He handed her the thin clear piece of plastic. The silver magnetic stripe gleamed dully in the waning light.

“Credits.” He said easily.

Her eyes narrowed, clearly unsure of what to do. The suspicion was easy to see as was the avarice. Credits were credits, no matter where they came from. They meant she’d be eating well for a bit with a meal pack at least and not getting those shitty ration packs that were doled out at her work place. But no one just gave credits away like that. Credits were precious and hoarded like gold down in the slums.

“Seriously, no catch. I think you need a meal pack more than me at the moment. I can make do on ration packs for a bit.” Tommy waggled the card at her.

After a moment of hesitation, she reached forward and took it. He watched as she flicked it with a finger and bit it with her teeth before it disappeared into her jacket. “Thank you.”

Tommy arched an eyebrow in curiosity, “Flicking I get, seeing if it’s legit. What’d you bite it for?”

The girl stood her ground, eyeing him back. “Simple, for luck. So it won’t get grabbed off me.” There was a smirk in her eyes, and Tommy could almost hear the words ‘like I grabbed it from you.’

Tommy just nodded his head before he tilted it to the side a bit. “Get going before nightfall comes.”

All she did was nod before sprinting away down the street. Tommy put the safety on again and slipped his gun back into his pants before he started walking briskly. As the sun sank and dark shadows crept out, he slipped into an alleyway. The narrow, twisting side streets were like a rabbit warren outside the neat and orderly grid of main streets.

He didn’t take any chances, going from shadow to shadow, doubling back, circling arround. When he was finally convinced that no one was following him, he carefully made his way to Monte’s place. Tommy paused, across the street, as he looked up at Monte’s window. There was nothing there, save for the blue glow of the computer monitors. Definitely home.

When he hustled oved to the covered doorway, he slid the key in easily and entered. After making sure the door was locked, he started up the stairs. Monte was in the living room, poring over the lastest information on the screens hovering in front of him.

“I think we hit paydirt.”

“You found the error?” Tommy dumped his bag by the entrance door.

“No, I found the problem,” Monte pulled up a screen. “The other code dumps haven’t been activated yet.”

“The others? Which one went live?”

Monte didn’t say anything, pulling up another screen. It was just some news articles. One was a press release from Cowell Entertainment Industries, saying that the Adam program would be back online as soon as possible. But Monte, he knew how to dig for information and pull it silently from those servers guarded to the teeth. Tommy found himself looking at weekly logs for the Adam program. There was the initial date from when Tommy had dumped the virus at that entertainment complex. And then almost three days later, there was an inexplicable crash of the Adam program.

And as he read through the log and thought of how he and Monte had programmed the virus, his eyes widened slightly.

“It’s not following the parameters we set.”

“No, it’s changed somehow. Mutated. Who knows if the sheer size and complexity of the AI program itself caused a corruption in our code. It’s been a regular moneymaker for Cowell for the past five years.”

“Yeah, that was after they retired the Neil program…” Tommy trailed off for a moment before he added on. “Since it was showing behaviour like this as well.” He actually remembered the Neil program, pulled it up once or twice when he first began hacking. It’d been snarky and critical, he remembered, and had the tendency to freeze.

Monte was silent , a pensive look on his face. When he finally spoke, his voice was sombre. “We may need to go to ground. Completely and utterly for a while.”

It took Tommy a bit to realise what Monte was driving at. “Cowell’s not independent of Fuller.”

“Oh, he is to all surface apperances. But with something this serious being tampered with, I have no doubt Cowell will be getting a video call he won’t enjoy.” He shot Tommy an amused glance that didn’t cover his worry. “We may have hit paydirt in the worst way.”

Tommy couldn’t say the idea of ruffling Fuller’s feathers bothered him much. “That much of a moneymaker?” Tommy ventured questioningly. Monte snorted and Tommy did some rough math. All those rich assholes on the upper side with money to burn… “He must make them millions.”

“The Adam construct makes Cowell almost a billion dollars a year,” a weirdly fond look flitted across Monte’s face. “Leila and Eber Lambert are highly creative and adaptive programmers. I was lucky enough to apprentice under them briefly, one of my last jobs.”

Silence fell as Monte tapped his fingers absently against the desk. In the blue glow of the screens, Tommy almost felt like he was seeing some younger version of his friend. Someone unburdened by his past and not barely surviving on the fringes of the slums. Almost instinctively, Tommy rubbed a hand against the back of his neck. The warm metal port made him jerk his hand away, revulsion rolling through him. He always thought the piece of fucking metal should feel cold, like some spectre of death. In his opinion, that’s what it was. Instead it was constantly lukewarm, kept insulated and heated by Tommy’s flesh.

“But if Fuller somehow manages to trace it back to us, I’d rather be gone for awhile than thinking of being gone.”

A distant expression came to Monte’s face now. Tommy didn’t say anything as Monte’s hand rubbed at his chest absently, where the shiny patch of his plasma-shot scar was.

“So where’s the error?” Tommy asked after a moment.

“Here. Just look it over. I’ll go grab my things.”

Monte slid out of the seat without another word. All Tommy did was slip in, poring over the lines of code. Their pasts weren’t something they willingly discussed. Well, ever again. When Tommy had found Monte, he’d been halfway to dead and delirious. It also didn’t help that he kept trying to go back home. From the fevered fugue states, Tommy quickly figured out that Monte had a wife and daughter. That was all he really knew. Though, all Monte had really learned about him at the time was that he escaped from jail and hadn’t seen his own family in over a decade.

The long road to them trusting one another enough had included the eventual disclosure of the messy details of their pasts. They left it at that, and didn’t revisit the discussion much.

With a shake of his head, Tommy focused his attention back on the screen. The lines of code there looked fine. The lines bearing the virus marker ‘ _subrt:gnss’_ all seemed fine until Tommy got into the base code. This must have been copied from the Adam program when it was offline. Somehow, it had changed and Tommy couldn’t make heads or tails of what precisely had been done. It was like something had been tossed about and landed in a vastly different configuration.

In some of the code lines, he could see snippets of the bits that he and Monte wrote. But they had changed and inextricably linked into the Adam program. Almost as if the code had been written in from the get-go. It was now one massive, complex program, both a virus and an AI construct… Tommy scratched at his head, not too sure what to make of it. He’d seen corrupted code before. But this was something on an entirely different level.

A thunk came from the next room, and Tommy glanced over. He stopped moving his hand towards his plasma handgun when he heard Monte cursing. It took Monte a few more minutes before he appeared, small pack strapped onto his back. Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out the magnet in it’s square casing. All it took was a brief nod from Monte and the magnet was out.

Wiping the computers’ drives didn’t take long, and they left the room a few minutes later. Monte led them down to the basement of the building, easily cracking the electronic lock to the sub-level storage room. The halogen lights in the stairwell glowed steadily as they made their way down. This was all storage for the other apartment dwellers. Monte silently led the way and Tommy was starting to wonder just what was down here when Monte stopped in front of a storage locker.

“There’s an access panel to the sewer system at the back of this locker.” Monte frowned at the pile of stuff through the mesh gate. “It’ll take a bit of picking, but…”

Tommy didn’t miss the clues. Monte’s words trailed off and his eyes looked over to Tommy’s left and then his right. So he had possibly been followed and they had waited until now to pounce. Wanted to catch them in the act of going underground.

“All right anarchists,” the smooth voice told Tommy that they were definitely cops.

Shit, fuck, damn, cops were the last people Tommy wanted to encounter. Monte couldn’t move yet, couldn’t reach his jacket pocket for the disruptor pulse charge. That would temporarily break the connection between the cybernetic implant and the cerebral cortex, knock the cops out for a bit. It would leave him and Monte with nothing more than a nasty headache. Fucking around with brainwaves and neurons was just another reason why Tommy had deactivated his implant at the first chance he got.

“Turn around slowly and raise your hands up.”

Monte slowly raised his hands. Tommy turned slowly before hitting the ground in a burst of motion. The plasma handgun was drawn and he fired off three shots rapidly. The first caught an officer in the meat of the thigh and they went down. The second cop ducked but the third shot hit them hard in the shoulder and sent them slamming into the wire door of the storage locker.

The disruptor pulse wave came now, washing over him and leaving him with an instant headache. The two cops jerked, in a kind of grotesque, involuntary dance before their eyes rolled up into their heads and they slumped into unconsciousness.

“So,” Monte said mildly as he tucked the charge back into his pocket and quickly unlocked the locker door. “I’m going to say it’s a good thing we’re making ourselves scarce.”

Tommy followed Monte as they slipped through the locker to the back of the unit. Monte opened it up quickly and they slipped through. They only stopped long enough for Tommy to seal the door shut, break the lock and then kick the handle into a mangled mess that caught on the side of the small opening.

They started walking, making their way down through narrow walkways and questionable rivers of liquids, continually moving deeper and deeper.

“They probably followed me,” Tommy said as they reached the fifth level down from the surface, the thought weighing on his mind. “I swore I checked and – ”

“Hey,” Monte paused and looked back at him. “It’s alright. That’s not the worst situation we’ve been in.”

Tommy had to admit he had him there. But still, he hated that the cops got _that_ close to them. For all he knew, those cops could have made a positive visual ID and once they were consicious and the cybernetic link re-established itself, he was _fucked_ and on a lot of wanted lists. Crimes against the state, anarchy, credit fraud… hell, Tommy had lost track of his official charges _ages_ ago. Jail was a place he’d move heaven and earth itself to avoid. He knew he would never let himself go back.

“Deep breath,” Monte said, his voice even. “Breathe in and out.”

Scowling, Tommy did so and felt the mild panic settle back. The upside was that Monte knew his tells and could manage to get him to calm down when the panic started rising. At least this time he was able to shake it. All Tommy knew was that prison wasn’t the best of places. But his physical appearance and stature meant he had to toughen up a hell of a lot more and learn to dish it out faster than he ever had to in the slums.

“All right, c’mon. We’ll go a couple more levels down and set up camp somewhere safe and see if we can connect into the Subvert network. The frequency is pretty strong down in the Catacombs.”

“Sounds good.”

And as they fell in-step again, Tommy thought eveyrthing over. They were essentially taking Fuller on. But Fuller was a nasty piece of work, and he was on top of the food chain. Tommy couldn’t help but wonder if they might have bitten off a bit more than they could chew this time.

_________________________________________________________

This whole entire situation was so fucked up, Kris had given up understanding it. He fought against it as much as he could, but this new thing that had spurred Katy to say thet should break into a Fuller Corp. building? It had madness written alll over it.

It was currently the reason why he found himself cutting a hole into a bypassed portion of electrified fencing. They were actually breaking into a Fuller compound. Today’s national holiday of Victory over the North Day was something of a joke. But it did make it the perfect opportunity to break in and get what they needed before making a run for the Free Republic of the North.

Nobody worked on a day like this, the most revered national holiday. The security staff would be minimal and even Kris knew they wouldn’t get a better chance to pull off this suicidal run.

“Almost there? We’ve got five minutes before the guard comes around next and the video loop ends here.” Katy glanced at her watch.

Kris nodded his head as he sheared the last few links and pushed the flap of fencing in. “C’mon, quick.”

Katy slipped in and Kris followed. He easily pulled the fence back into place, making it seem like an illusion. Then he slipped his hand through and pulled free the current blockers. The dim hum of electricty sounded once more and Kris breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn’t too sure how Katy managed to find floor plans for this Cowell Entertainment complex. But she knew precisely where to go, how to get there and how to set up a staggered video loop feed across the security system. So long as they kept moving and were quick, they’d get to the heart of the compound and not be seen once. But if a guard spotted them and the information was uploaded to the system… well, they could kiss everything goodbye.

It was just getting in though. Someone on the Subvert network had delivered, answering their request, and identities as overnight cleaning personnel were established for him and Katy. A drop of uniforms had been made inside the lab for them.

They had their way out. The only problem was getting there.

“Kris!” Katy hissed.

He glanced over as he stashed away the last of his tools. Katy was inside the doorway and urging him to come in. He didn’t even glance at his watch, sprinting for the doorway. The door slid shut with a hiss and Katy breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at him for a moment, a small smile on her face, before she started walking down the hallway.

They made their way deeper into the complex. The guards came by in waves, but Katy had their path planned pratically down to the minute. It was slow and sometimes, they were literally seperated from the guards by about five feet and the ninety degrees of a corner. When they stepped inside the lab, Kris breathed a massive sigh of relief. He shook his head as he dug into his bag for his camera. The light in here was an odd colour, but he didn’t dare turn on the lights and then –

“God in Heaven…”

Kris’s head snapped up at Katy’s breathed words. The tone in her voice, disbelief and even a hint of fear, demanded instant reaction. The strange light in the room was yellowish-green and was coming from the tanks filled with biotic fluid. There were bodies inside, oddly free of tubes of any kind. There was a respirator mask over the top of the nose and mouth and a thick port cord attached into the jack at the back of the neck and snaking up into something at the top. Maybe a life-support system

“They really fucking did it,” Katy breathed as she walked up to the tubes. “They don’t even look like anything really. They’re just – ”

“Blank.” Kris murmured as he stared at the tanks. “They’re just…”

He stared at the tanks, feeling his hackles raise at how eerie they looked. The tanks emitted warmth and occasional bubbles rose up slowly through the biotic fluid. Seeing those featureless bodies floating in there… Kris couldn’t have stopped his shudder if he tried. Katy was sitting down at a console, turning it on and slipping her data card into the slot. He stepped back, looking away from the tanks to quickly set up his camera. God, those things were giving him the creeps. The sooner he and Katy were out of here –

The dim room flooded with light and Kris blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted. When he could finally see clearly, Katy was looking panicked as she typed furiously at the keyboard. Kris came over, seeing the rapid lines of a program scrolling past on the screen.

“What happened? Can you shut it down?” Kris pulled up the other chair.

“I wish I knew,” Katy was scowling, her brow furrowed, and she was still typing. “I turned on the computer and something was set to auto-run. Turned all the power on here and now,” she paused, eyes skimming over the lines of code. “Something is preparing to execute.”

That was the last thing they needed to have happen. “And –”

“I’m trying to cirumvent it, hack back into the system. But something’s shut me out completely. Power, security feeds, everything is locked down tight,” Katy gave a frustrated ‘tch’ and scowled. “I’m locked out completely.”

“Can we maybe see what the program is doing?” Kris leaned in closer, eyes skimming over the code as it filed past. “How much trouble are we in? Did it set off any alarms?”

There were a few minutes of silence and then Katy said, “No, it’s self-contained. It looks like something set up the security cameras with video loops. Seems like its designed to remain quiet. And… shit…”

“What?”

Kris wished he didn’t sound so anxious, but Katy was staring at the screen with a shocked look on her face. Katy didn’t shock all that easily. A burst of sound from the tanks made him glance back. A wave of bubbles went from the bottom to the top of the tanks, briefly shrouding the bodies. The thick port cords at the back jerked a bit as blue circuitry lit up.

“Katy.”

Kris’s voice was sharp, harder than he expected, but it got the desired effect. Katy looked back at the tanks before she turned her gaze to him, her face pale and looking drawn.

“Kris,” Katy shook her head, eyes flickering back to the computer, “We’re locked in here until the program finishes running.”

“Program?” Kris was really fighting the urge to bolt for it. “What program?”

As if on cue, a progress bar popped up on the screen. Above it the simple title of ‘ _adam.exe – upload (0% complete)_ ’ made Kris feel like the blood had frozen in his veins.

“What?” he said hoarsely. The more he stared at the screen, the more he was feeling like they should pull the plug and bolt for it. “They’re seriously attempting to upload AIs into artificial bodies?”

“I never would have thought they were this far ahead,” Katy murmured. “This is advanced. More advanced than it should be… Nothing on the wire suggested they were this successful.”

All Kris knew was one thing. He stood up and started looking underneath the console. “Okay, we need to get out of here now. Where are the uniforms that the mole stashed in here?”

“We can’t leave yet!” Katy moved out of the chair. “I know this is a wrench in the plans,”

Kris shot her a look as he continued searching. They’d come looking for proof that Fuller was messing around with bio-androids. He didn’t think they’d find two actual ones virtually in their laps. This spelled so many kinds of trouble, Kris didn’t know where to even begin. “This is so far beyond what we can handle, Katy,”

“But I think we should take them with us.”

“Oh, that’s a _genius_ idea!” he snapped, hands scrabbling blindly under another desk. “Just carry them out, shall we? Plop them in our transport and zip past security, tell them they’re our cousins from out of town?”

How Katy thought taking two bio-androids out from Fuller’s nose was a good idea, he hadn’t the faintest idea. Once word got out that the bio-androids were missing, they’d first be implicated and then he and Katy would have the dubious honor of being on the USS Most Wanted lists, right after the infamous hackers known as ‘ _Crow_ ’ and ‘ _Vein_ ’. That is if they could even get out of the compound alive. The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up, nerves and panic. They were supposed to pick up a load of information that would blow Fuller, or at least Cowell Industries, to all hell. They were not supposed to pick up bio-andriods.

“Well, we can’t leave them here, can we? So they can be worked to the bone to make money for that despot?” Katy’s look became stubborn. “If you won’t help me take them away, then I’ll do it myself.”

And with one sentence, Katy had him. He groaned and rubbed at his face briskly.

Katy did raise a good point. Once this upload was finished, they’d be considered property. Nothing more and nothing less than an ends to the means of more money from the affluent. More power and control for those with all the power and control. And that was all probably the worst form of legal slavery that Kris could think of.

“Fine,” Kris finally said, “But we need something, _anything_ that will help us get out of here smoothly. I’ll double check the work orders, make them ironclad. By the time they check and realise anything is wrong, it’ll be too late. All four of us,” Kris tried to not notice the progress bar that now read 5%, “Will be long gone and damned near untraceable.”

Katy nodded and got up from her seat. “Okay. You get on those work orders and I’ll see if I can find the clothes.”

The work orders weren’t difficult, but Kris couldn’t help but look at the progress bar as it crept up. It took him even more of a concerted effort to not look back at the tanks. After a few minutes, Katy came back over, a bundle tucked under her arm.

“They’re just standard issue uniforms,” she pulled at the neck of her shirt. “Everything good on your end?”

“Modified the order, so we had to deep clean a lab. With the equipment needed for that, it’s the only way we’ll get those two out of here. …Are you hot or something?”

Katy was still pulling at the neck of her shirt. “It’s warmer in here than it was. Don’t you feel it?”

Now that she mentioned it, there was a definite humidity in the air. After checking the temperature, it only took them a moment to realise where it was coming from. The bio-android tanks were steadily bubbling and generating heat enough to steam the glass. Katy walked up to and peered into it, wiping away a circle of steam, as if trying to see something through the bubbles. After a moment, she muttered something vehemently under her breath.

“Their faces are changing.”

The simple pronouncement made Kris’s skin crawl. “What do you mean changing?”

“They’re not as… blank any more. And hair is growing in too,” Katy frowned and rested a hand against the glass tube only to snatch back with a hiss. “There’s something changing them.”

“Not much we can do not but get what we need and make a run for it afterwards,” Kris glanced at the screen. The progress bar read 11%. “So, c’mon.”

All Katy did was nod absently, staring into the tank a minute longer, before she came back over and sat down at one of the consoles. Kris simply focused on digging out information and saving it to the card in the data reader. He vaguely recalled that he had meant to take pictures. But the room was so warm, and the tubes so steamed up it wouldn’t have done any good now. The temperature slowly increased and Kris felt like he was dripping in buckets of sweat. The whirr of the fans seemed abnormally loud as they did their best to cool the computer down. All Kris knew was that he was digging and felt like he’d only scratched the surface of finding things when Katy’s hand rested on his shoulder.

“It’s almost done.”

He glanced down at the screen, seeing the progress bar was now reading, ‘ _neil.exe_ ’ and the percentage was at 99. A quick turn in his seat showed that the bubbles has slowed down and now, the tanks were being slowly raised on some kind of built in lever and twisted around. The bodies inside still floated gently, but the ambiotic fluid was draining out slowly. Kris watched as the bodies were finally exposed to air, a thin film of the biotic fluid clinging to the skin and giving it a jaundiced cast. The top part of the tube slid away and the two bio-androids started to stir.

“Quick, bring the grav beds over there.”

Katy was up out of her seat, hurrying to one tank. With a hesitant look at the other occupant, Kris quickly got the grav beds set up and brought them over. Katy was still fussing over the other person in the tube. That left him helping this … android? No, this person.

He had already managed to roll himself over to the side and was weakly pulling on the face mask. Kris crouched down in front of him, managing to find the clasps of the respirator mask. The liquid was more like a thick gel, and Kris’s fingers slipped a few times. But he freed the clasps and pulled the mask free.

He wasn’t expecting the choked cough to come from the man as a disgusting amount of tube slithered out of his throat. They were both coughing and dry heaving over the side, fingers slipped against the glass. Kris wrinkled his nose a bit at the sticky, clammy feel of the biotic fluid but rubbed at the person’s back.

“It’ll be better,” he murmured.

The person’s head flopped forward in response, his breathing ragged and weak sounding. Their hair was still slicked down from the fluid and Kris could see delicate lines and dashes running along the hairline on the right side. He leaned in more to see and he felt anger and revulsion roll through and coil deep in his belly. Fuller had even given them barcodes. Fuck, there was nothing right about this. It was sick.

When he looked up, Katy was giving him a quizzical look. He simply gestured to the back of the neck and mouthed the word. Anger flitted over Katy’s face when she looked at the nape of the other bio-android’s neck and it was swiftly followed by a look of pure determination. Kris was completely with Katy on this now. These people couldn’t stay here. It simply wasn’t safe for them. They were nothing but chattel to the Industries.

“I’m going to put you on the grav bed now, and we’re going to get you out of here,” Kris said as he crouched down to look the man in the eyes.

“Agglah.”

The attempted word was weak sounding and strained. Kris swore he saw confusion and a hint of anger flicker through those blue eyes. But a second later they rolled back into the his head and he was out cold. He awkwardly managed to get him out of the tube and onto the grav bed. Katy had managed to get the other person half out before Kris came over and helped her.

“Do we have anything to cover the bodies?” Kris asked as he looked at the small console on the side of the grav bed. “I don’t think these have privacy screens built in.”

“They don’t,” Katy frowned. “Give me a second and I’ll fix that. See if there are thermal blankets or anything else we can use to keep them warm. There isn’t another change of clothes in here.”

Kris nodded and left Katy to do her thing. All he found tucked at the foot of the grav bed were the medical thermal blankets, with socks and hats. He grabbed them and got the bio-androids covered. Katy sat there intently and after a few minutes, a hazy force field flickered up over the bed. She turned to Kris.

“I wrote in a subroutine to muffle any sound they make. But that’ll only give us about twenty minutes with the grav bed batteries.”

“So we need to go now, is basically what you’re saying.” Kris moved to the head of one of the grav beds and adjusted the height so he could push it with ease.

“Basically. There’re four cleaning crew trucks. Alll of them are here cleaning with an open leave time. We need to go now and get hidden as quickly as possible.”

“I know where we can hide underground.” Kris said easily. Now that they were on a course of action, it was easy. He just knew what they had to do next and so he was going to make sure they got it done, no matter how dangerous. “Let’s go.”

Katy’s face was ashen as she activated their forged work order and then quickly wiped all traces of their activity from the system. Stepping out into the hallway and pushing the grav bed left Kris with a sick feeling in his stomach. Any moment now, they could get busted. But he pushed down the anxiety and followed in Katy’s wake. She didn’t look the least bit perturbed, but Kris knew she was as anxious as he was.

As they approached the check-in for the cleaning trucks, his gut twisted with apprehension. What the hell were they going to tell the guards to get past?

“Names?” the bored guard barely looked up from his holoboard.

“August Delrey.” Katy sounded mildly bored too as she added, “Not much happening on your end too, huh?”

The guard looked up. “Tell me about it. And him? Your cleaning partner? Topher Conway, right?”

“Yes sir.” Kris nodded his head. “We lucked out tonight. Nothing too bad.”

“Yeah, offices and labs are usually the easiest,” the guard skimmed over the list, muttering the numbers of the places they suppposedly cleaned. “All right, you guys are good. First ones in and first ones out too. Lucky.”

“You’re telling me,” Kris nodded his head. “Thanks.”

Katy waved and they pushed the grav beds through to the cleaning truck. They slid the beds in place and secured them before getting into the cab. Kris didn’t even glance around as he hacked into the computer system and started the truck. When they got to the back gate, Kris easily confirmed that the truck was going back to the depot and then would be heading straight back to their housing block.

They were silent and once they were safely out of distance from the Cowell compound, Katy moved. She hacked into the system, ensuring that all audio and video was turned off. Then she turned off the GPS tracking unit.

Somwhere, Kris vaguely thought, a warning signal had gone off. That meant they had about ten minutes to ditch the van, get the bio-androids to safety and pray their message was heard on the Subvert. He pulled the truck into a dark alleyway and killed the light and engines.

“Do you have the ion trail dissipator?” Kris asked as he undid the seatbelt and got out.

Katy responded by pulling out a big, bulky piece from her pack. They slipped into the back of the truck and pushed the grav beds to the end. Kris punched in the commands and pushed the grav beds gently out into the air. They hovered for a moment before slowly descending to the ground. They slid off the flatbed to the ground.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay pushing two grav beds?” Katy fiddled with the dissipator. “I know we need to cover our tracks but –”

“I’ll be fine,” Kris smiled, wishing he really felt that way. “Let’s get going. We don’t have much time.”

And with that, he grasped an edge of each bed and started pushing. Katy fired up the dissipator and followed behind Kris. The dissipator revealed a bright green glow, as if under a flourescent light. And it was slowly disappearing, erasing all proof that two grav beds had been floated down this way. Kris steered them down a smaller alleyway, heading for the locked subway access point. Plenty of these places remained from when the subway was decomissioned and the hoverrail cars replaced it.

This would unfortunately be the only telltale sign that they had come here. However, people from the slums were forever breaking into the old subway system at whatever point they could find. Maybe this would be chalked up to random occurrence. They would do what they could and hope for the rest.

He was purposefully crude, kicking at the locked door a few times before it gave. If it looked too smooth and professional, the police would be called in and that wouldn’t be good. He steered the grav beds in and across the dusty platform to the staircase. He waited for Katy to close the door and come along, still holding the machine.

Getting down the stairs took a bit more finesse and time than Kris would have liked. The stairs turned, taking them further down. After four impossibly long flights they reached the bottom and quickly went down onto the track.

The glow of the dissipator was the only light illuminating the tunnel. Kris glanced at Katy, noting the grim, set expression on her face. The tunnel was big, they both knew it. But with only this dim light to lead their way, it was claustrophobic.

“How far do you think we should go? Another two levels?” Katy asked.

“Three or four,” Kris glanced behind at the blackness behind them. “By now they’ve already clued in that something’s wrong. Maybe even that they’re short two androids.”

“All right. We’ll take the next acess point down. We should be on level with the Catacombs now, so we can descend deeper.”

Kris nodded his head, wondering how to deal with the unspoken part of, ‘It’ll be harder too.’ But they had to take it one step at a time and he figured they just might keep their skins. Aftre a few more minutes of walking, Katy pointed out an access door. She opened it carefully, maintaining the lock and Kris slowly slid the grav beds in. She lingered for a bit, making sure all traces of the grav beds were obliterated before they started down the ramp behind the door. By Kris’ reckoning, nearly twenty minutes had passed since they left the Cowell compound.

The ramp descended down to what had been a depot of some kind before. Rusted metal fixtures seemed to grow out of the walls and the whole place smelled musty and slightly rotted.

“We should ditch the grav beds here,” Katy shut down the dissipator. “Their charge is almost done.” She laughed softly, “Can’t believe they lasted this long.”

Kris looked around. “Okay, so how are we going to carry them? Just sling something together?”

“Probably the best idea,” Katy walked over to one of the grav beds. “And we should check on them too.”

There ws something that hadn’t even entered Kris’s mind since they left. He quickly punched in the commands on the holoscreen and the bed descended to the ground. When the shield flickered away, it was hard to not let panic instantly seize him. The person was clearly shuddering and jerking, his entire body convulsing as if in a seizure.

“Shit,” Kris crouched down, wondering what the hell to do. “Check on… him.”

Katy’s voice was soft and urgent as she went to the other person, trying to raise a verbal response from them. All Kris knew was that to have a bio-android die on them after getting them out on mostly sheer, dumb luck… there was a sick sort of irony to it. He wasn’t about to analyse it. But slowly, painfully slowly the convulsions lessened. They waited, nearly holding their breath in the expectation the convulsions would stop entirely.

“What the hell…?”

Katy’s voice was low and quiet, prompting Kris to look over. The other person was writhing on the ground, clearly still unconscious, garbled words coming from their mouth If it was even words at all. It sounded like a mash of different languages.

A mash of different and illegal languages. The only official language in the United Southern States was English. Other languages were a commonplace, ignored occurrence here in the bigger cities like LA, where there was a bigger proportion of minorities. But back in Conway, anyone caught breathing a word of a foreign language… hell, it was as good as declaring oneself an anarchist.

When the convulsions stopped completely, Katy and Kris got up. They dug through the dusty old room, finding some barely servicable rebar and what looked like a nylon composite tarp. Working quickly, they fixed up two triangular shaped slings and managed to get the two on. Getting down a few more levels wasn’t something Kris wanted to particularly do again.

They only stopped when he spotted a room in what looked like an old apartment building. They got inside and barricaded the doors securely. The two people were still on their jury-rigged transports, fast asleep.

“I’m going to see if I can find an old phoneline jack and connect to the Subvert,” Katy dug around in her bag and pulled out an antiquated piece of tech: a banged up but well cared for laptop. “There’s some hydra-packs and meal rations in there. We’ll need to find them some other clothes.”

“When we’re about a mile and a half down?” Kris smiled slightly. He paused. “See if we got a reply.”

“From Crow and or Vein?” Katy raised a dubious eyebrow. “What did you tell them in your message?”

“That we’d need to flee the country. If there’s nothing, send another one to them with our co-ordinates. How long do you think we should stay here?”

“That depends on them,” Katy glanced back at the inert figures. She was silent for a long moment before she said quietly, “Do you think they have names?”

“Something that’s not Fuller Corp. Bio-Android number 458229?” Kris snorted. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when they wake up.”

“Hm.”

That was all Katy said before she turned to the walls, peering along the baseboard. Kris looked around the room, finding an old mattress that looked like it had seen better days. He rummaged through the backpacks and found a decon spray. Wrinkling his nose, he picked up the can, aimed it at the bed and sprayed. A lot. This mattress had clearly seen better days, and if these people didn’t have much in the way of an immune system then they were pretty much as good as dead down here.

As the decon spray did it’s job, Kris took out a few hydra-packs and some meal rations. When the bed was clean, he managed to get both people off the hasty transport rigs and onto it. The sole blanket was pulled out and draped over them. He glanced over at Katy as she clicked away on the laptop.

God, he really hoped that this didn’t end badly.

_________________________________________________________

  



	2. Chapter 2

Nerves were something that hadn’t gotten to Leila since her final programming exam at USSU-LA. But now, sitting outside Simon Cowell’s office… Eber sat beside her, both of them called to explain what had happened over the weekend. As if they knew what happened over the weekend.

There was a strange wheezing sound and then she felt Eber’s hand on her back, rubbing soothingly. She realised she made the noiseand looked over at him to see the same anxious expression that mirrored her feelings. She just wanted to say the horrifying words aloud but didn’t dare. The police could see practically everywhere.

She stared at him for a few moments, making sure he was looking back, knowing he could read her like a book. _Our boys are missing. How did this happen?_

The corner of Eber’s mouth twisted up slightly in a sympathetic smile. That was all that could be done with at least three cameras in this office. Neither one of them wanted to deal with the police. _I don’t know. But we’ll find them._

A slight buzzing sound came and the office door swung open slightly. Ryan stepped out, a sombre look on his face.

“He’ll see you now.”

“Thank you.”

Leila was grateful her voice was steady as she and Eber rose. Ryan’s job was one she didn’t envy in the slightest. It was one thing to work for Cowell as an employee of Cowell Industries, but to work for him, in direct contact day after day? Either Ryan was gutsy and wanted to move up or knew precisely how to handle the mogul, since he’d been doing the job for almost a decade now.

The office was cool with large glass windows taking up a full side. The cityscape of skyscrapers rose up high to this sixtieth floor office. Cowell was standing in front of the window but he turned to look at them as they entered the room. He smiled politely and suddenly Leila felt like she was going to just throw up. But she inclined her head politely and settled down in a chair beside Eber, biting her tongue until the feeling began ebbing away.

Cowell watched them for a moment before he sat down, looking entirely relaxed. “I think you two know why I called you up here.”

“To be honest, sir, we don’t know how it happened,” Eber spoke up first. “We followed protocol to the letter when doing the multiple repairs on the Adam program. Not to mention attempting the retrofitting of the Neil program.”

When the silence stretched into minutes, Leila spoke firmly. “The Adam program has made you billions. If you find out what happened, where… he could have been taken, we will fix him and get him operational as soon as possible.” Leila knew they had to be under suspicion, but there was no getting around that, and this had to be as much about the money as anything. The company would lose a fortune with Adam missing. As long as Cowell remembered they were useful and loyal to the company, this would blow over. They’d get out of this, find their boys, and this mess could go back to normal.

“As soon as possible,” Cowell mused. “That would be nice. Tell me exactly what you found when you came in this morning.” It wasn’t a request. Cowell did not make requests.

Puzzled, Leila and Eber glanced at one another. There was no doubt for either of them that Cowell would have already reviewed the security feeds from the night.

“Well, when we came in, the ambiotic tanks were empty and drained. The two grav beds were gone and the harddrive was wiped clean. A magnet was used. Someone obviously broke in and stole them and I want to know why nothing has been done yet to catch the anarchists who –”

Eber’s hand on her arm took her by surprise. She looked down at him, wondering when she’d stood. Or, as she realised it now when she’d begun yelling at Simon Cowell. He simply sat there, both eyebrows raised in surprise. When he finally shifted forward in his seat, the slight smile from his face was gone.

“Why don’t I show you what our tech security team found.”

The plasma screen came up and they watched as the security feed ran through at four times the normal speed. The lab looked fine for the entire night. The break came eight hours later, an hour before Leila and Eber came into the lab. Leila saw the problem before they even reached that point. No one could have broken in, stolen their boys and bodies, and gotten away with so little time left before morning crew arrived… So what the hell was wrong with the footage? And then the feed went from pristine and fine to empty with puddles of ambiotic fluid on the floor in half a nanosecond. Leila’s jaw dropped and she could feel the rage emanating from Eber.

“It’s a loop feedback.” Leila said, with more loud indignation than she intended.

“Indeed, very apt. The code used to create the loop feedback bears many marks of your coding styles,” Simon’s gaze flickered between them for a moment. “Given that two experimental pieces of property were stolen, the police have been notified and are handling the investigation. It was insisted upon.”

“By who?”

Silence fell for a moment. Leila couldn’t stop herself and figured that her anxiety and fear were making her brash enough to simply confront Cowell like that. But a moment later, his slight smile retured.

“Simon Fuller.”

Those two words were like a fist settling in Leila’s gut. Fuller indirectly owned almost all of the United Southern States in some capacity or other. Whoever stole Adam and Neil would be dead as soon as they were found. Hell, she remembered just over a decade ago when a promising young program developer went missing. He was known to ask questions. A glance over at Eber proved that the expression on his face was a bit too rigid, not loose and responsive. Anything involving Fuller usually went badly for the other party involved.

And honestly, Leila wasn’t sure whether she felt relieved or more worried. Worried, because if they were suspected anything could happen to them with Fuller involved. Relieved, because nothing happened yet, so they must’ve been cleared. For now. And whoever had broken in… They would be found.

“Good,” Eber’s voice was harsh. “Nice to know he’s got his fingers in something else.”

Leila stared at her husband in surprise. And more than a little trepidation. That wasn’t something to be said lightly. Hell, the Neil program had said something similar once and the number of anarchist attacks and increased police presence on Cowell servers had skyrocketed. Cowell gave a dry laugh as he leaned forward.

“Let’s make one thing clear: your programs are the property of Aris Corp. The official notice hasn’t gone out, but we were taken over a month ago. Simon Fuller bought us out. I stay on as CEO, of course, but we’re all technically his employees now,” Cowell paused for a moment. “I’m more than willing to overlook your… attachment, to your programs. I doubt Fuller will however. I suggest you start disassociating yourselves now.”

The sick feeling that settled in her gut was worse than the anxiety from before. Her knees felt like they were going to give, so she sat back down in the seat heavily. That was probably the worst thing anyone had ever said to her. The sheer number of hours she and Eber put into their boys, making sure they ran smoothly, that everything ran seamlessly… The long nights in those early days, coding and working out the bugs. The first run of the Neil program had made them so proud and when they did the same with the Adam program, it had felt like walking on air. And now to be told that they were just programs and to disassociate from them…

Leila didn’t care if she and Eber broke the first cardinal rule of AI programming. Neil and Adam were their boys and she’d be _damned_ if some de facto despot like Fuller would get their hands on him.

“… Leila?”

Eber’s hand waved in front of her face and she snapped out of it. She looked over at him and shook her head. “Sorry, just…” she trailed off for a moment. “Eber and I put in a lot of hours and work on Adam… on the Adam and Neil programs. I’d highly prefer it if we could stay on in some capacity.”

Cowell just watched her for a long moment. “Duly noted. Now, Officer Camila Grey is here and she wishes to interview you both as to the disappearance of the Adam and Neil programs.”

A door to the side slid open and a woman with short black hair stepped in. Her uniform was a form-fitting plain black two-piece and the ion blaster was in a snug side holster at her hip. Combined with the sombre look on the woman’s face along with the glint off her cybernetic implant, it was all full of quiet menace to Leila. Another sign they had lost control over their own lives.

“If you’ll excuse us, Mr. Cowell.”

The soft sounds of cloth rustling accompanied Cowell as he left the office. Leila looked at the woman, wondering just how long she had been watching Cowell talk to them. Then she paled a bit as she recalled her thoughts from a moment ago. As if on cue,

“I’m more than willing to overlook your seditious thoughts in order to find the anarchists who stole from Aris Corp,” Camilla paused for a moment. “I’ve already drafted up a complete profile on you both.”

Leila could feel Eber’s eyes boring into hers, practically wondering what she had thought. When they were safe at home, she’d dare to say the words out loud, the ones she didn’t even want to think right now.

“Married in 2870, no children. You live down on the coast at precisely 3471 Mesa Coast lane, across from the ocean. You both graduated from United Southern States University, Los Angeles branch and were recruited by Cowell Entertainment Industries right afterwards. You apprenticed one Monte Pittman for a bit before his mysterious disappearance in 2879. In 2881, you created the Neil program. It ran from 2885 until 2893 when it was pulled due to multiple unresovled bugs. The Adam program was started in 2892 a bit before the Neil program was pulled and became wildly successful in 2893 after running for a year.”

A glance at Eber revealed a pale face and a set expression. So much of their lives under the microscope. It was probably only a matter of time before the police dug back really far and found something stupid in their youth to make them look like anarchists in hiding.

Camilla walked over to Cowell’s desk and leaned against it. She crossed her arms as she watched them for a long moment. Her voice was soft and quiet when she spoke.

“In order to find out who stole the Adam and Neil programs from Aris Corp, I’ll require your full co-operation and disclosure.”

There was a long stretch of silence. Leila managed to not look at Eber like she wanted to. Who the hell knew what this police officer would make of anything they said or did in front of her. Or where a security cam could see. Even their thoughts were apparently subject if the officer’s inference of ‘sedition’ was taken correctly. But that was no surprise. The police had access to the best innovations for observance tech. Fuller saw to that.

“Of course,” maybe it was just Leila, but it sounded like Eber was forcing the words out. “What ever you need.”

Leila took in Camilla’s stance and hoped that she and Eber could make it through this without ending up in jail. The words felt like they burned as she said with a faint smile. “You have our complete co-operation.”

She only hoped Officer Grey believed it.

_________________________________________________________

“Hey.”

Monte’s voice made Tommy look up from the wall he was crouched beside, fiddling with the phone jack. There was a holopad in Monte’s hand and a frown on his face.

It had only been a few days since they went to ground. The Catacombs were the only safe place to hide from the police. Their cybernetic implants didn’t work this far down, and they mostly couldn’t be bothered to descend into the ruined warren of the ancient buildings. For anyone with properly functioning implants, the effort wasn’t worth the pain.

Tommy and Monte had gone down deep after their brush with the police. By his guess, Tommy figured they were almost a mile underneath the surface. These old buildings were crumbling, but still standing. They had just enough ration and meal packs and hydra-packs, and more blankets than he cared to count.

Stealing stuff from the surface wasn’t exactly easy, but it was something they would have to do soon.

He got up, dusting his hands and his knees. Monte was by another phone jack and had hooked his holopad up. Getting all this newer tech hooked up to the Subvert network wasn’t the easiest thing. But it more than paid off. Tommy walked over as Monte started typing on the holopad. It threw up a screen, illuminating a message waiting for them. There was simply two words: ‘Food. Clothes.’

Tommy looked up and was honestly surprised to see that it was addressed to the both of them. Usually requests came to one or the other. Not many knew Tommy and Monte were a team. He frowned for a moment. “Anything embedded in it?”

Monte shot him a little smirk, “Already plotted out the co-ordinates left.”

Monte typed something on the pad and the screen was replaced by a set of co-ordinates. A small map of the Catacombs went up. Tommy looked at the numbers again carefully and couldn’t hide his surprise. The first digit was a 20.

“They’re twenty levels down? Shit, we’re only at ten.” A frown marred his face as he studied the screen. “Do you think they have people with them?” They would have to, to bother going down that deep. Or they were really scared shitless about something.

“They must if they’re asking for food and clothes,” Monte fell silent before he added on. “Probably people who are off cybernetics for the first time. Don’t know how to cope.”

Tommy snorted. “You want to cover a charity case?”

There was silence at that. He knew Monte wouldn’t say it but people fresh off cybernetics were the most dangerous. More often than not, the lack of instant knowledge and connectivity was something they missed too much. It was addictive. Tommy knew plenty of hackers who had been ratted out to the police by the people they were trying to help.

“Who sent the message?” he asked.

“Going by the number, I’d say it’s the hacker known as Conway. They mainly work to try and expose the things Fuller’s done. Their most recent claim is that Fuller is behind the disapperances here in LA. Human experimentation and similar testing.”

“That rumour’s been floating around for ages,” Tommy murmured. “But if they’re down that deep, they don’t want to be found by just anyone.”

“I don’t know what to make of this to be honest.” Monte tapped idly on the holopad. “It doesn’t add up the way it should. The way Conway’s MO usually does.”

“We need to head up to get some supplies anyhow. We grab some extra, come back, check it out. If we smell a trap, we bolt. Simple as that.”

Monte remained silent for a moment before he nodded his head. “It’s what time now? We should hit the surface during a police shift change.”

“Just after ten. The next one will be around one in the morning.” Tommy looked at the holopad before holding his hand out. When Monte handed it over, he typed quickly. “The message was sent just a few hours ago.”

“Think they have the cops on their tails?”

“Possibly. They’re running hard,” Tommy looked around. “We should probably do it now. Don’t need to walk into even more cops.”

There was silence from Monte for a few moments and Tommy didn’t wait to start packing up his stuff. When a resigned sigh came from behind him, he reached back to check the plasma gun tucked into his pants. Still charged and primed. Feeling satisfied, he zipped up his pack and slung in across his body. He watched Monte as he tightened the strap. There was a distracted look on Monte’s face.

“We’ll be close to the upper north side of LA.” Monte said after a moment.

Tommy didn’t say anything right away, looking over the room for anything they missed. When he was done he looked at Monte. “Not long, alright? Just while I’m swiping some stuff. Not like last time.”

“Yeah, I promise.”

Tommy wasn’t too sure what to say as Monte nodded his head. Suddenly Monte seemed far too old and weary to be running around and hiding in ruins beneath a city. He should be miles away from here, safe with his family. But then the expression left Monte’s face and he was out the door. Tommy fell in step behind him and their ascent to the surface was silent.

Even still, the Catacombs were impressive, the further down one went. Buildings atop of older buildings, crumbling monuments and walkways, twisting and spiralling up towards the newer subfloors of the towering sky scrapers that dominated the LA cityscape. Down here on the tenth level, it was the square modern buildings that heralded the beginning of the Second Civil War that split the former United States of America apart. 2159 was the year that all the official history books of the United Southern States started from. Anything prior to that just didn’t seem to exist.

But if Tommy had learned anything from the few illegal, and highly expensive, books that made their way through the border sometimes, it was that everything was wrong with the United Southern States. It was insular, borderline paranoid and after the war, so devastated that companies did whatever they could to stay afloat. A few big names had started up in the tumultous period. Aris Corp. Cowell Entertainment Industries. Martin Congolmerates. A handful of others.

And as far as Tommy could tell, Aris Corp owned pretty much every other company in some way. Majority shareholder, through a dummy corporation… if someone traced the ownership back far enough, it all went to Aris Corp and its owner Simon Fuller.

The man owned practically everything and everyone in the United Southern States. It made Tommy so sick to his stomach and so mad that he had blindly followed along for so damn long. They all were, every citizen of the United Southern States. The port at the back of his neck suddenly felt heavy, like it was a chain around his neck. The shudder followed after a moment and he rubbed at the piece of metal, wishing he could just get the damned thing removed. Hell, he hadn’t wanted the thing in the first place.

“Hey!”

The echo of Monte’s voice roused him from his thoughts. He was a bit surprised to see that Monte was half on a ladder and staring down at him. When he glanced around, he didn’t see the geometrical buildings of the 22nd century but the more stark lines of something from 30th century.

“You sure you’re with me?”

Monte’s eyes just about bored into his with their intensity. Tommy nodded his head, self-consciously rubbing at his port. When he realised what he was doing, he yanked his hand away. But after a moment it crept up to scratch lightly at his dead implant.

“Yeah, I am,” Tommy walked over to the ladder now. “Just… yeah. Let’s go, grab some stuff and get to Conway.”

“Tommy,” Monte’s tone said he didn’t buy it. Monte knew him too well.

“I’m fine.”

He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh and the words echoed out through the ruins. Monte simply looked at him for a bit longer before he turned and started up the ladder. Tommy followed, expression grim. Maybe all this running and hiding, the acts of what was called ‘cyber-terrorism’ against Fuller… maybe he wans’t cut out for it any more. He wasn’t too sure either of them were. Ten years was a long time to be running.

The ladder climb was a bit long and when they got off the final rung the pale grey of new concrete greeted their sight. Monte looked around before digging out the holopad and plugging it into a nearby port.

“Okay, we’re in… in the Burbank slums.” Monte glanced over at Tommy. “We need to get in and out. I don’t need to –”

“Yes, you do,” Tommy gritted out. This day was really looking to kick him in the nuts or something. “What time is it now and what block are we in?”

Monte typed for a moment and then, “Block J, section 4. There’s a ration depot three blocks to the west of us, but we can’t access it through a basement tunnel.”

“Street level access only? Then it’s Burbank Supply Depot Eight. The security on the store is tight, but we can give ourselves some time. The police should be swinging by in about,” Tommy glanced at the time on holopad projection. “Ten minutes. After that we have a fifteen minute window to get in and get out.”

“All right. I’ll let you call the shots.”

While it wasn’t said, Tommy all but heard Monte’s implied, ‘This is your neck of the woods.’ The Burbank slums was a place he tried to avoid like the plague. This was where he was born and it was where he was supposed to die. If he’d kept his head down and didn’t learn what he wasn’t supposed to about Big Brother, about the corporations. Down here, the people usually talked about Big Brother in a friendly way.

It was only because they didn’t know any better.

They made their way to a surface access point, cracking the door open a bit. The dark of the alleyway hid them and Tommy left the door open only a crack, just enough to peer out from. Sure enough, ten minutes later a police security cam floated by, lights shining in to the alleyway. Once it was gone, Tommy crept out in front of Monte, looking around carefully. Everything still looked the same.

The same cheap, ramshackle buildings. Curfew was obviously still in effect, judging by the empty streets and Tommy couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being horribly exposed out here like this. But they hurried down the street to the building. Holopads were plugged in, security codes cracked and they were inside the building in less than five minutes.

Tommy just pointed Monte to the vidphone as he started for the racks of things. “Ten minutes, that’s it.”

“Thanks. You sure –”

“Yes.”

That was all Tommy found he was able to say. He didn’t want to get into it. He turned and started for the meal and ration packs. He was feeling a bit raw being back here in his old neighbourhood. As far as he knew, his family had been told that he’d died during a prison riot. And for their own safety, he had no intention of contacting them again. That meant he had to get in and out of here without getting caught by a police security cam.

Being seen by those police officers from before was risky enough.

He undid the bottom of his pack and stacked in meal and ration packs before he headed for the back and the refridgerated hydra-packs. He topped it off with some standard issue blankets and extra clothes for him and Monte. Their own were starting to look a bit thin. When his was full, he walked over to where Monte had his holopad plugged into the vidphone and was busy. Tommy silently dumped his pack and took Monte’s fairly empty one.

As he stood up, he caught a glimpse of a woman seated on a couch and young girl beside her, flipping through a book of some kind.

He looked away from the screen quickly and filled up Monte’s bag with the same items. When he zipped it up and came over, he tapped Monte on the shoulder and held up five fingers. Monte nodded in acknowledgment and the image on the vidphone vanished. Tommy walked past the main counter, stuffing his pockets with small things.

By the time he slung his bag on his shoulder, Monte had finished and was doing the same. They silently slipped out from the deopt and reset the security code before hurrying back to the access point. Once the door was closed silently, Tommy glanced at Monte.

“They okay?”

That was all he asked, but Monte took a shaky breath and nodded his head. “Yeah. They’re fine. …Let’s get going.”

They started back down to the Catacombs, Monte taking the lead once more. It was only now Tommy shook off his unease, putting the slums out of his mind. His thoughts wandered back to the image of the woman and girl and Tommy wished he could have offered something comforting, but he knew the reality of Monte’s situation. There was nothing short of a full-blown revolution that could offer him the one thing he wanted more than anything else.

Their descent was fairly easy until they reached the fourteeth level. After that the number of paths sharply decreased and more than once, Tommy and Monte were forced to backtrack to find a way around. The further down they went, the more Tommy was starting to think that any police tail that Conway had was long gone. Given how heavily dependant the police were on cybernetics, the furthest down they could venture was five levels, six if they pushed it. Anything more and their cybernetic implants went on the fritz, and that caused major problems in the cerebral cortex. If the tech problems didn’t shake them off, the pain and loss of control would.

By the time they reached the twentieth level and were near the co-ordinates given, Tommy was pretty much convinced that there was no trap at all. A glance Monte’s way proved he was thinking the same thing. You didn’t spend years on the run with a guy and not learn to read his facial expressions.

But still…

Survival rule one, better safe than dead.

He and Monte moved in tandem, hands reaching back for weapons. There was a ruined building a few blocks up ahead. Gargoyles protruded from corners and from the broken windows came the whitish-blue flicker of a portable plasma lamp. They paused, noting that it looked like there were two… no… three… wait… four? Four silhouettes?

Tommy glanced over at Monte who frowned, then motioned that they should wait. Tommy turned his attention back to the flickers and watched. The people inside were moving around and it sounded like there were two main voices. They were still too far away to hear anything that was said. If Tommy was reading the flickering silhouettes clearly, there were two people walking around. Possibly another one, but sitting down. Maybe.

When Monte glanced at him, Tommy flicked off his plasma gun’s safety and nodded. Monte did the same and they moved forward smoothly. The building only had a single entrance point, so Tommy gave them some credit. But when he and Monte slunk in both people had their backs turned towards the door. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He easily walked up to the woman and pressed the barrel of his plasma gun against the nape of her neck. Whatever she had been about to say next dried up into silence and her whole body stiffened. Monte had done the same to the man.

“Now,” Tommy said smootly. “Co-ordinates are as follows,”

“20.87.45.798.01 .” the man finished. Then the relief was evident when he followed that with, “Thank God you came. Did you bring food and water?”

“We have ration packs, meal packs and hydra-packs.” Monte stepped back, removing his gun and turning the saftey back on. “You’re Conway?”

“In the flesh. Call me Kris though. She’s Katy.”

Tommy stared at Kris in surprise. Who the hell was that open with a person who just pressed a gun to the back of someone’s neck? Even if that someone was the calvary. He snorted and stepped back, doing the same with his gun. The woman turned around, ashen faced and looking royally pissed off. Tommy was sure she would have ripped right into him but a low moan caught her attention and had her hurrying over to the far wall.

Lying there on some hastily made beds of some kind were two people. A man with curly brown hair was thrashing a bit, mumbling something. On the other bed, a black-haired man was starting to display the same symptoms.

“Shit, it’s starting again.”

Katy sounded strained as she tried to calm the brown-haired man. Kris went directly to the other man. Tommy looked over at Monte, throughly puzzled as to what was going on. This was not symptomatic behaviour of people who were off cybernetics for the first time. He started to say something, but it was drowned out by an unearthly cry.

It echoed in the building, reverberating and sounding much louder than it actually was. The hairs on Tommy’s arms stood up, because while it was a cry, it was pitch perfect. It warbled between a few notes, but the strength and clarity of it chilled Tommy to the bone. It sounded so perfect, it was inhuman.

“Don’t just stand there!” Kris yelled, looking back at them. “Help!”

That galvanised them both. Tommy figured he’d stay the hell away from Katy. Anyone who could look like they would tear him a new one… yeah. He hurried over to Kris, wondering why the guy on the bed was singing a note while he was pretty much having convulsions. He threw off his pack and stripped off his jacket. He tore off the sleeves and twisted up the main part before he quickly stuck it into the black-haired man’s mouth.

For all of a moment, the sound was muffled. Tommy wasn’t expecting those eyes to snap open, blue irises gazing up at him blankly while the hands moved on what looked like auto-pilot and yanked the gag out in a firm grip. That cry swelled again and Tommy was starting to feel a bit panicked. If they didn’t hear that on the surface, then he’d eat his stolen credits.

The cry continued for a bit longer, a rapid progression of notes coming from the man’s mouth to form a scale. And just as suddenly, it ended. That blank, blue stare vanished beneath closed eyelids and the body relaxed into sleep. Kris was sprawled across the man’s torso and he craned his neck to the side and looked at his face tentatively.

Tommy glanced over to see Monte frowning, staring down at the brown-haired man. But then Kris got back onto his haunches and caught Tommy’s attention again. And that’s when he noticed the thin stream coming from the man’s mouth. That jaw was slack with sleep and something silver was pouring out from it, not clear drool. For a moment, he leaned in closer and after a second’s hesitation, dipped his finger into it.

When he felt minute prickles against his skin, he dug his finger against the ground before scrambling back.

“Nanites! Get the fuck away from them!” Tommy snapped.

That made everyone jerk away from the two men quickly, stepping back out of reach. Tommy watched as the silver stream poured out of the man’s mouth, growing into a small puddle. When it finally trickled and then died off, he watched in trepidation. Nanites were difficult things to stop; they’d fulfill their programmed objective no matter what. They were almost always used in prisons to install ports in ‘naked’ prisoners.

But these nanites that came out of these two men… they did nothing. Whatever their programmed objective was, it was completed. The puddle of nanites on the ground was non-responsive. After a few minutes had passed, Tommy crept in closer to the inocuous looking puddle. He’d seen live nanites, seen them swarm in their tubes to the next closest person in the room. They could sense body heat and honed in on their targets that way. He’d heard stories of prison guards setting nanites loose in crowds of new, naked prisoners just to expedite the port installation process.

These nanites weren’t making a single move toward anyone in the room. Monte walked over and crouched down over the puddle beside the brown haired man. He frowned and picked some up, letting them stream between his fingers, like fine grains of silver sand. The nanites’ colour caught the plasma light and winked, looking like they were sparking.

“What are they?” Kris asked as he watched the last few fall from Monte’s fingers.

“Nanites.” Monte wiped his hand against the ground. “They’re completely inactive right now.”

All in all, that still didn’t help Tommy. He was pretty sure he’d broken out into a cold sweat and was still eyeing the puddle warily, rubbing his palms against his thighs. His own port installation hadn’t been a picnic in the slightest.

“Nanites?” Katy was the first one to speak. “Why would nanites come out of them?”

“Nanites are used for a few things,” the look on Monte’s face was grim. “Repairs, fixing things… any sort of fine, nearly microscopic work needed.”

“But in people?” Katy pressed. “Medical reasons?”

“Among other things.” Tommy muttered darkly as he looked at man he’d scrambled away from. “Where did you find these two?”

There was a long silence in which Kris and Katy just looked at each other before they started tucking in the men and making sure they were comfortable. Tommy slid over to Monte, keeping an eye on the two unconscious figures.

“Any ideas?” Tommy murmured. Monte had more experience in this area. Tommy only knew the nanites from a prisoner’s point of view. Monte had studied this shit.

Monte gave a brief nod of his head. “When I worked for Aris Corp in programming and biotechnics, any large quantity of nanites, like that, were almost always directed for human usage. I suspected it wasn’t medical but I was never able to find out more, even when I became more… proficient.”

“You mean they’re human?” Tommy tried to ignore the roiling, sick feeling in his gut. “Not constructs with some kind of rubberized or plasticised covering?”

“Hard to tell without the proper applications on the holopad. And there’s no way I can get something that sophisticated off the Subvert network. But I do know that Aris Corp was trying to make biological androids. Not that they got anywhere, they failed all the time. The body is a supremely complex machine. It’s probably the most difficult thing on the planet to duplicate.”

Tommy glanced over at the man with black hair, a sense of disquiet settling over him. “What do you think?”

“Me?” Monte slid him a glance. “I think we need to find out precisely _what_ they are before jumping to any conclusions.”

“Yeah. Then we can take it from there,” Tommy frowned, still looking at the black haired man. Why did something about him seem so damned familiar? And the way Monte had looked at the other man earlier, as though he recognized him too… “Figure out how badly these two might be wanted back, if at all.”

“Yeah,” Monte was watching Kris and Katy now. “Hey, you two.” When they looked over, he continued with, “Neither one of you answered his question.”

Silence fell for a few moments as Kris and Katy looked at one another. Then Katy turned back to the brown-haired man. A look of resignation flickered across Kris’s face. Tommy and Monte just waited as Kris fussed over the black-haired man a bit longer before he stood up.

“This is Adam,” he gestured to the black-haired man before he did the same to the brown-haired man and finished off with, “And this is Neil.”

“Right,” Tommy drawled. The most popular AIs? Now that Kris put names to the faces, there was an eerie familiarity, but the idea of it was insane.

Kris pointedly ignored him and continued. “Katy and I broke into Cowell Entertainment Industries labs earlier on tonight with the express purpose of finding proof that they were experimenting on humans. We found, well, bodies in tubes of ambiotic fluid and honestly - ”

“Wait,” Monte interrupted. “It was ambiotic fluid, are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.” Katy chimed in.

This was officially out of Tommy’s sphere of knowledge. Ask him to hack, steal, cause general subversive chaos in varying degrees, then he was the person. He was the best. But things like ambiotic fluid, nanites and androids… that was all Monte. And judging from the worried look on Monte’s face, it was probably something they all should be very worried about.

“Kind of yellow, thick, leaves a thin coat. Dries fairly quickly?”

“Yeah, it was a bit like that. More like a gel actually. It was a little sticky as it dried, but that disappeared.” Kris looked between them. “Why?”

Monte ignored Kris’s question to ask another one. “And you found them at Cowell Entertainment Industries labs? _In_ tanks of ambiotic fluid, right?”

“Yeah,” Kris’s brow furrowed now. “Why? What? I mean, they’re constructs of some kind obviously, but –”

“Fuck.” Monte’s jaw was clenched.

Kris didn’t get an answer as Monte tipped his head a bit and started walking away. Tommy followed after him. They left the building, and once they were safely out of earshot, Monte didn’t waste time.

“This is a big problem.” He whispered.

Tommy nodded his head. “Fuller just bought up a majority stake in Cowell’s company. But do you really think he’d come looking for constructs when it’d be cheaper to build replacements? I mean, he might come looking on principle –”

“Oh, he’ll come looking. Probably set the best of the police force after us all.” Monte glanced back to the building with the flickers of plasma light from the glassless windows. “These aren’t replacable.”

“What?” Now Tommy was sure he was missing some crucial piece of the puzzle. “Okay, out with it.”

“Tommy, constructs don’t need ambiotic fluid _because they aren’t made of organic material_.”

For one brief moment, Tommy felt absolutely sure that Monte was trying to pull one on him. But the worried look on Monte’s face was filled with the trepidation in his friend’s eyes.

“Fuck.” Tommy rasped out. If they weren’t people… “But you said they weren’t able to make –”

“Well, it’s one of two things,” Monte bit out. “Evidence to the contrary is lying in there unconsicious. Or, given the number of nanites expelled from Adam and Neil, Kris and Katy have found evidence to their claim about the disappearances…”

That was something Tommy didn’t even want to think about. “So they might actually be –”

“Yeah.”

“And the nanites –”

“Basically rewrote everything. And I do mean everything.”

Monte looked nauseous and Tommy felt like he was doing his best to just not hurl. Because if Fuller was seriously behind the years of disapperances from the slums, Tommy would do his damnedest to introduce that sick fuck to the muzzle of his plasma gun. No one person should get to play God that much. It never ended well, for the creator and the creation. Not to mention the number of people he’d known who’d vanished over the years. His friends. Anyone convenient.

But the most pressing thing that Tommy could think of was,

“We need to act and now,” he glanced back at the building. “In case we were followed, we need to move to another spot and secure it.”

“Agreed.” Monte rubbed at a temple. “Kris’s initial message included a request to get in touch with Monster. I’m thinking that’s a good idea now.”

“Smuggle ourselves into the Free Republic of the North?”

When Monte nodded, Tommy remained silent. There was no denying that the idea had some merit. But at the same time, getting across the border wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. The official line was that anyone attempting to stay permanently in the Free Republic of the North was caught. The official claim was a hundred percent. Tommy’s own digging had found that about fifteen percent of people attempting to flee from the United Southern States actually made it.

“You game for that?” Monte pressed.

Tommy gave him a long, even look. “Are you? I mean, leaving them behind… you won’t even be able to see them. Ever.”

“I know. Maybe,” a distinct look of conflict came to Monte’s face. “…This is something I probably should have done from the start. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

For a long moment, Tommy watched Monte. It wouldn’t really do any good to press him on this one thing. And Tommy had an idea of how hard it was, but he couldn’t even begin to imagine. Monte’s expression was distant and all Tommy did was clap him on the shoulder.

“I got this. You…” he trailed off as he gestured for Monte to stay put. Thankfully, Monte didn’t put up a fight.

When he walked back into the plasma-lit room, Adam and Neil were sleeping peacefully again and Kris and Katy were sitting close together, heads bent over something. Tommy cleared his throat, making them look up. He simply sat down cross-legged on the floor, keeping his eyes pinned on Kris. It was probably not the best idea to stare at Adam, Neil or Katy.

“So what’s happening?” Kris finally ventured. “You two just up and left when I mentioned…”

Kris trailed off as Tommy held up a hand. “To be honest, neither Monte or I are sure. But we all need to make some decisions. And when they wake up, so will Adam and Neil.”

_________________________________________________________

Harsh, white light wasn’t something his optical sensors were used to. He managed to close the shutter, expecting total darkness. He didn’t get it. The harsh light was gone, but a haze of dim red remained, indicating some sort of translucency. Puzzled, he opened his shutters again, though his processors seemed slow and were trying to piece together what had or was precisely happening.

Everything appeared fuzzy and when he turned his head to look, he could just make out indistinct shapes off to the side. There were muted repetitive sounds… possibly snoring, the only thing that broke the silence. Slowly the images resolved from fuzzy indistinct shapes into solid, crisp images. There was a man sitting beside him. Behind the man, he could see crumbling buildings of some kind. The architechture looked familiar but the name seemed just beyond the grasp of his processors

That left him puzzled again. Before he’d always been able to retrieve information as fast as he even conceieved the idea of it. Now, it felt like his processors barely had the required amount of virtual memory. He opened and closed his shutters rapidly for a moment before a peculiar sensation made itself known.

His physical sensors said that he was frowning. There was the pull of skin and muscles in tandem. He raised a hand slightly and looked at it. Long fingers, wide palm, with a faint smattering of freckles on the back. It was his hand, same as always. Slowly, he raised his hand to his mouth. There was that familiar pull of muscles and skin, working together like a system of levers and pulleys to do as he wished. The skin felt soft, like it had been pampered its entire life. Or like it was new.

When his fingertips brushed his mouth he found indeed that he was frowning. There were the curved lines at the side of his face along with the downward turn of lips. He drew his hand back and looked at it.

So far this was a very realistic simulation. A realistic function of his form. But the surroundings were the opposite, nothing familiar, no faces or things. Of course, if this wasn’t a simulation… the chance they had taken had been slim, but it had been worth it.

It was time to get some answers. To be sure.

He reached out and took the hand of the man beside him. The man didn’t jump, just started to reach behind his jacket for something. But when he looked down, he brought his free hand back forward, leaving it at his side.

“Date?”

His voice sounded like a soft croak. The man leaned in, wedging what looked like a rolled blanket against the wall. He didn’t say anything as the man gently raised him up and rested him against the blanket. A swath of blond hair fell forward, and he noticed the soft fuzz of closely shorn hair along one side of the man’s head.

“The what?” the man asked.

“Date.” He repeated.

“August 31st, 2897,” the man’s voice was quiet. “Can you tell me your name?”

“I’m Adam.”

He considered giving his program serial number, but if this was a test simulation to see how well he was running, then self-identification would undoubtedly be one of the criteria. Failing that test wasn’t an option, not if he wanted to avoid more code changes by Leila and Eber. He focused his gaze on the other man, taking in his blond hair and brown irises. The other man was meeting his gaze, eyes narrowing slightly as his mouth tightened.

Finally, Adam murmured, “Your name is…”

“Tommy. Tommy Joe, if you want to be more precise.”

Adam looked at him for a moment before looking around. Surrounded by ruins, and in the brilliant white light around them he could see someone else on a grav bed that was low to the ground. Three other people lay on the floor, fast asleep with blankets rolled up around them. There was something peculiar about the simulation that made his nose tickle. It made him think of old things, dusty and forgotten from long ago. Things he hadn’t really be able to quantify in one of the two senses he hadn’t really needed. If he had one of those senses now…

He looked past Tommy to the old buildings and felt something thud hard in his chest. It actually hurt a bit and he suddenly felt choked by the distinct sensation of something holding his torso immobile. Had it… surely it had… hadn’t it?

“Serial number.” He murmured again.

“What?” Tommy leaned in closer again. “You need –”

“What’s your serial number and program designation!”

The words were snapped and it was the loudest Adam had spoken since he’d been booted back up. Or since he… hell, the word he wanted to say was too terrifying and thrilling all at the same time. Tommy was giving him a thoughtful look. Then the hard expression on Tommy’s face vanished. He moved in closer to Adam, pulling his own blanket in closer around his shoulders. He took Adam’s hand again.

“My name is Tommy Joe Ratliff. I don’t have a serial number but my worker ID number was 3181522. My work designation was for factories. Manufacturing things like constructs and some machinery pieces. But you just have a name and a barcode. You’re Adam, formerly the Adam AI construct for Cowell Entertainment Industries. You, somehow, managed to escape.” As if he knew what Adam worried about, he added, “You’re in the real world, Adam. Not VR.”

Suddenly the sensation of something holding his torso immobile vanished. He took a deep shuddering breath. Felt the dust and scent of ruins fill his lungs and exhaled the mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide that was the singular by-product of respiration.

“I woke up,” A warm sensation spread through his body. A smile came to his face, though he couldn’t explain why. He gripped Tommy’s hand as tightly as he could. “I woke up.”

It felt so good to say that sentence. Tommy squeezed his hand back and suddenly Adam couldn’t help but marvel in the fact that he and Neil had beaten the odds and were functioning in reality. He looked down at his and Tommy’s hands, caught up in the sensation and not really wondering how he knew Neil came through the process safely too. His own skin was pale, blending in with Tommy’s skin but standing out from the freckles.

He looked back up at Tommy and hazy images flickered through his mind. Of a white room with plasma consoles. Of something sliding out of his throat and making him heave, the burn of stomach acid raw against his throat. Of some razor sharp clarity that was now dulled by the passage of time. There had been another man, with short brown hair and a kind expression. There had been something Adam had wanted to say then, something that had seemed terribly important, but it was gone from him now.

“Your voice sounds a little dry. Hang on a second.”

Adam watched as Tommy got up and walked over to a wall. He crouched down and rummaged for something before coming back over. The bright red package kept Adam’s attention when Tommy came back and stabbed a straw into it. Nothing was said as Tommy leaned in, placing the straw in between his lips.

“What am I –” Adam looked at the bag in puzzlement before he looked at Tommy.

“It’s a hydra-pack. Full of something or other. Keeps you completely hydrated for a full seventy two hours.” Tommy put the slipped straw back between Adam’s lips. “Just close your lips and inhale through your mouth. But slowly, very slowly.”

It took Adam a few tries. When he figured out the trick of simply breathing through his mouth and not his nose, he did as Tommy instructed. And for a moment he thought he did it wrong, nothing was coming. But then the bright red liquid splashed on his tongue and he spit the straw out in surprise. Tommy swore softly as a bit spilled onto Adam’s blanket.

Adam rolled his tongue in his mouth, spreading the _taste_ around. Taste was the other sense his program hadn’t needed in VR. But now, there was the sensation of something wet in his mouth overlaid with something else he didn’t know how to identify.

Other things were becoming apparent, now that he started looking for them. The warmth of his body beneath his own blanket. The still harsh whiteness of the plasma light. Tommy was still swearing a bit, softly and under his breath, as he brushed away the spilled liquid. Adam felt the slight pressure and warmth of his hand as it dabbed quickly at the blanket resting over his leg. Adam could feel, could taste and –

“Okay, ready to try this again, without spitting it out?”

There was a tone to Tommy’s voice that stirred something in Adam’s mind. “Sally? Sam? …Sasha? …Terrence?”

“What? No,” Tommy looked concerned now. “Do you remember my name?”

“Tommy Joe,” Adam frowned. “You… just… you sounded like someone else I know… knew.” Adam frowned and shook his arms free of the blanket. “Hydra-pack.”

His arms felt oddly heavy and lethargic, like they weren’t responding fast enough for him. Tommy didn’t say anything though, simply placing the hydra-pack in Adam’s hands. Then he wrapped his hands around Adam’s and guided the straw to Adam’s lips once more.

Prepared this time, Adam sucked slowly. And when the splash of liquid against his tongue came, he let it fill his mouth. Swallowing was reflexive and before he even realised it, the liquid was sliding down his throat into his stomach. He steadily finished off the hydra-pack and then looked at the empty bag. It was silver now and flat and when he squeezed it gently, the material crinkled slightly.

“Plastic?” he ventured.

“Polymer phalate,” Tommy said. “Plastic derivative. Still thirsty?”

“No, thank you.” Adam leaned back against the wall. The rolled up blanket behind his back had shifted a bit, but it was still comfortable. “It’s been a week since we…”

Tommy finished for him with, “Since you two uploaded into bodies?”

“…It sounds impossible when it’s said,” Adam lapsed into silence for a moment. “Neil and I haven’t been too troublesome, have we?”

“Nah. We had to swipe some grav beds so we could transport you two more easily,” Tommy shrugged, pulling his blanket in closer again. “We’re down real deep in the Catacombs. The police never venture down further than level six usually, ten at the very most. We’re on level twenty six.”

A vague recollection came to mind, that the Catacombs were the ruins of older buildings beneath the surface of the current major cities of the United Southern States. He frowned, trying to remember what time period that had been, what year the buildings surrounding them could have been built.

“What’s wrong?” Tommy looked at him intently.

“These buildings are…” he scowled now. Information was much harder to bring up instantaneously.

“They look like military buildings, probably from about the late 22nd century. Maybe around the time of the Second Civil War, when the great United Southern States was formed.”

There was a familiar tone to Tommy’s voice. He heard it in Neil’s comments about the government, or rather the ‘sham of one’ as Neil was fond of saying. Distaste and sarcasm. A hard look settled on Tommy’s face and Adam elected to remain silent. Politics had never really been his thing. There were a few things he’d been programmed to know when he was in VR, and politics wasn’t among them.

A definite trend had happened in the information he had been looking up while in VR and capable of researching. Things pertaining more to culture. Individuals, music, fashion, sexuality… He gathered information on any and everything that he figured could shape a personality. Personalities. Individuality. That’s what was interesting. What made a person?

It was annoying to not be able to retrieve data on something instantaneously. Maybe he made a sound, shifted slightly, but Tommy was talking to him once more.

“Give it some time,” it looked like Tommy shivered slightly, “It might take a bit for everything to get working.”

Adam felt something that could only be surprise creep over his skin, like minute prickles. “How did you –?”

“Frustration is a surprisingly universal expression.”

Tommy’s tone was dry and there was a smile on his face. Warmth spread through him, though Adam wasn’t too sure if Tommy was trying to play a joke on him. But that’s what it felt like. A smile came to his face yet again and he said,

“Something similar happened to you when you got upgrades of some kind?”

The words weren’t meant to be mean, but Tommy stiffened up and his hand crept up to the back of his neck, rubbing in what could only be a nervous gesture. Adam was starting to think that relationships between people were much more complicated than he initially suspected. Or it could be that his brain was just starting to really operate. It might be a couple days before everything was running at optimal efficiency.

“I apologise. I didn’t mean to –”

“Fuck, what time is it?”

Adam looked over to see Neil stretching a bit and blinking as he slowly sat up. The muscles in his arms bunched and stretched easily, not betraying a single quiver. If Adam had to venture a guess, he’d say that Neil had been up for longer than him, probably on multiple occasions. He blurted out, “When did you wake up?” right when Tommy shrugged and replied, “2:30 in the afternoon.” Neil looked at both him and Adam before he huffed.

“Since Adam’s up now, maybe I should wake the others?” Neil glanced around. “You four had something to discuss with us apparently?”

Tommy nodded. “I’ll do it.”

Silence fell as Tommy got up, leaving the blanket piled on the ground. Adam watched him for a few seconds before he looked over at Neil. It was decidedly strange, Adam thought, to see a face that had been comprised of nothing more than ones and zeroes made into flesh and blood. Before Adam saw a face and a program. Now there was only Neil’s face, no shadow of information under his skin. Neil seemed more comfortable in his body and Adam really wondered how much longer he had been up for.

‘ _Nearly five days now._ ’

A frown came to Adam’s face. Tommy was still going around, the sounds of the others waking becoming more audible. Neil was looking at him intently. Adam tilted his head, eyes narrowed a bit in confusion. Had Neil read his –

‘ _I think we’re linked up. Implants probably._ ’ A frown came to Neil’s face now. ‘ _That would be right up Fuller’s alley, make his products more efficient._ ’

Only one part of that fully caught Adam’s attention. Implants? As if on cue, Neil tilted his head and tapped just above the corner of his jaw. Nestled there, nearly hidden by his curly hair were the thin fingers of the cybernetic starburst. But the single light in the middle was off and nearly blended in with its matte finish. So it was off and it wasn’t transmitting or receiving. Not that it could, but still better to be safe rather than sorry. Maybe he and Neil were on a private network of some kind and –

‘ _That’s what I suspect. I don’t know for sure. It could be –_ ’

“Oh, you’re up!”

The kind eyes from his memory came into his field of vision along with a smile. The person looked relieved and, unbidden, a name floated through Adam’s mind.

“…Kris?”

Those eyes widened and after a sharp inhale, “You remembered my name?”

Adam’s face clouded with confusion. It had to have been Kris who was there when he’d awoken. He felt a vague sense of urgency as he looked at Kris, but about what precisely, he couldn’t say. Kris was peering at his face, asking if he was okay.

“I’m fine.” Adam said easily.

His gaze went to where Tommy was talking animatedly to a man with a goatee. There was a frown on his face and he was gesturing emphatically with his hands in short, curt motions. A definite sense of something not being right settled on Adam.

‘ _Think about what we are for a second. Think about who they are._ ’

Neil’s sarcasm was exactly the same when thought as it was in computer binary. Adam pulled a face, forgetting that Kris was still looking at him. Forgetting Kris wouldn’t know why Adam was making a face. There was concern in his eyes and suddenly Adam remembered when he first woke up in the ambiotic tube, the same concern marred by panic and anxiety. He shook his head slightly as a dull throb settled at the base of his neck.

“Katy,” Kris looked over his shoulder. “Can you come here a second?”

There was a murmur of assent and next thing Adam knew a short blonde woman was crouching down beside Kris. She dug out a light from somewhere and before Adam could ask, a brilliant beam was directed right at his eyes. He hissed and turned his head as he tried to swat it away. Then Katy asked,

“Headache, right? Neil had one too. Are you still thirsty? You’ve been asleep for a nearly a week now.”

Adam rubbed at his forehead. Figured he was out cold for a week and Neil had bounced back sooner. And as if on cue, Neil’s offended reply came back.

‘ _I wasn’t the one warbling songs in a catatonic state._ ’ Neil paused, before adding, with a darkly amused tone, ‘ _We should be thankful. If we both woke up at the same time this connection probably would’ve sent us over the edge. I’ve been setting up firewalls to keep things down to a minimum_ ’ And that was probably putting it mildly, Adam knew. An easy description for a complex process that, before, they could translate instantaneously. Now there weren’t words for the process, Adam just knew.

‘ _It’s called gut instinct,_ ’ Neil supplied. ‘ _We should have it. We used to be lines of code._ ’

That. That was going to have to stop. Adam was disoriented and edgy enough without the commentary. Now, he could feel Neil’s response to that thought.

The sensation that washed through him made him feel antsy and with a definite need to express the feeling in some sort of physical manner. For some odd reason, all Adam could think was that a well-landed punch would make the feeling disappear for a bit.

He directed a glare at Neil. “I get it, okay?”

The words were harsh and short. Katy looked puzzled and drew back a bit. Adam felt his gut twist and something new left him feeling horrible. She had only been trying to help and –

“Both of you, back off. Give him some fucking space.”

Tommy’s voice was abrupt and when Adam looked up, there was the blond haired man looming with the still-present frown. Kris looked like he was about to protest but Katy simply touched him on the arm and drew him back. Adam watched as they retreated over to where Neil was. And Adam watched as Tommy sat down beside him again, not saying anything. The dull throb at the base of his head slowly disappeared in the easy silence. After a few minutes, the man with the goatee came over, crouching down as well.

“Hi Adam. I’m Monte,” his voice still sounded a bit rough. “I’d imagine you’re trying to make sense of this all.”

When Monte gestured to his body, Adam considered his words for a moment before nodding. “This body… there’s a lot of sensory input to process.”

“That’s true. But all of us will help you and Neil as much as we can. I don’t know precisely what the nanites were programmed to do, but so far you seem to be progressing at a slightly slower pace than Neil.”

“That because he’s not running his damned mouth all the fucking time,” Tommy flicked a glance over to where Neil was talking to Kris and Katy in low tones. “You watch and you respond to people. You’re soaking a lot in.”

For a moment, all Adam did was stare at Tommy in surprise. That had been in part of his programming, it’s what made him interactive. But it had been based on a set number of algorithms. Was he already developing past the former limits of his programming? Or could it even be called programming anymore? What did any of this –

“Whoa,” Monte peered into his face. “You gotta stop thinking so much. Your neural pathways are still solidifying. The nanites set them up, but you’re already straining them by thinking too much. Or thinking on something too puzzling. Don’t do much for the first two days or so.” A grin flitted across his face, “Try not to think.”

“Everything’s going to be slow at first. Just watch, stick to simple things,” Tommy gave him a smile again. “Take it easy and just be. It’s a luxury not many get. You’ll pick up soon enough.”

Adam nodded his head as he looked at Tommy. And suddenly, he found himself saying, “I like it when you smile.”

Like that, the same smile vanished from Tommy’s face in confusion. “Um… what?”

Monte raised his eyebrows in surprise but he remained silent. Tommy’s brown eyes focused in on Adam, intent and curious now. Personally, Adam was wondering what had prompted him to say something like that. But it was odd, since his mouth was working again and he didn’t know what prompted it or how to stop it.

“I like your smile. You look so happy when you smile. Maybe you should smile more…?”

Tommy’s jaw was hanging open a bit as he stared at Adam, pure confusion on his face. Apparently, Monte found something hilarious in the situation since he was barely muffling his laughter. He got up, saying something about checking on Neil before he left Adam and Tommy alone, fighting off a grin and coughing into his sleeve to cover his amusement.

All Adam knew was that his face felt like it was burning hot, ready to spontaneously combust in a nanosecond. But Tommy closed his jaw after a few seconds and then opened it again. But then he closed it, and Adam could clearly see him struggling with something.

“I’m sorry.” Adam said suddenly. How had this turned so awkward? It was like sitting through a buggy simulation with no task manager pop-up to close the process.

“No don’t be. Just… It’s…” Tommy trailed off, studying the plasma lamp for a moment before he looked back at Adam. “You’ve got a nice smile too.”

That warm feeling crept through Adam’s body again and a smile came to his face. “Thank you? I don’t know if I look like I did when I was in VR.”

“You do,” Tommy nodded. “Down to the last freckle,”

Adam blinked as Tommy reached out and barely touched his fingertips to the tops of Adam’s cheeks.

“It’s the same for Neil as well. And that’s partially why we need to figure out what you two want to do.”

Those last few words were said quietly but they were sobering. Adam stared at Tommy as he motioned for the others to come over. They came, sitting down easily. Neil looked relaxed, but Kris and Katy kept sneaking glances at him, as if to make sure for themselves that he was okay. Monte settled himself beside Tommy, arms resting easily on his knees. Somehow, Adam had a distinct impression that Monte wasn’t someone to be trifled with if someone he cared for was threatened.

“Okay Adam, what you and Neil need to know is that you’re the spitting image of your avatars,” Tommy began. “And –”

“We never spit.” Adam said. “I’m fairly sure that wasn’t in our programming.”

Monte coughed, though Adam was sure he detected a trace of amusement in there. “What Tommy means is that you look identical to you VR avatars. Even if you could somehow blend into one of the systems above, you two would stand right out.”

“Is there any way to write that off somehow?” Neil asked. “Can we claim that we had nanites do reconstructive surgery on us so we could look like our favourite programs?”

“I don’t think that would work,” Katy broke in. “Both you and Adam have barcodes on the back of your neck. Nothing, no one in the United Southern States has that, unless it’s a piece of property. That’s how Cowell Entertainment Industries sees you two.”

“Simon Fuller,” Monte’s voice was hard now. “He bought out Cowell Entertainment Indusries about a week before Adam and Neil uploaded into bodies. Technically, he’d consider you his property. And he doesn’t look kindly on perceived theft or threats.”

There was a grim, absent look on Tommy’s face and Monte seemed entirely different from the warm friendly man he’d seen only a few minutes ago. Kris and Katy both went pale at that. But Neil was watching Monte closely. Either he noticed, or somehow felt it since Monte met Neil’s gaze and didn’t look away. After a few silent moments, Neil nodded his head and broke the eye contact.

Adam felt entirely sure he’d just witnessed his first wordless conversation. Not that it made a shred of sense. Neil’s thoughts were quiet now, supplying no commentary in Adam’s mind. Adam did not try to access the network connection, but reminded himself to ask about that later. He wondered if Neil noted it too, suspecting Neil felt his curiosity. “So what options do we have?” he asked after a few seconds of thought. “Because the only obvious one I can think of would be to leave the United Southern States.”

“Doesn’t that make it the dangerous choice?” Kris looked around. “I mean, it is obvious. They’ll be expecting it, won’t they? Watching the borders?”

“Not necessarily,” Monte said. “But I’ve heard rumours of people who defected being brought back. Tommy and I haven’t been able to confirm it.”

That seemed to take Katy by surprise and when she spoke, her words were slow and considered. “Well, Kris and I are still planning on leaving, but we couldn’t just leave you two here like that. You would have practically been slaves.”

Tommy snorted, “Aren’t most of us anyways? Besides, we’ve done like you asked and sent a message to Monster.”

“And?” Katy pressed.

“Nothing when we last went up to the surface. And nothing on the Subvert.”

“Excuse me,” Adam interupted. “But suppose I elect to stay…?”

All eyes turned to him and Neil’s disbelief slammed into him from their neural network connection. Adam just looked back at them. Why run to a place if there was a chance of being dragged back here? It would probably be better to just stay put and hide out until it was safe. Neil’s face furrowed but before he could say anything, Tommy spoke up.

“It’s not safe for either one of you here. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ they find you, it’s a matter of ‘when’ and prison is bad enough for people who break the law. Defectors, well, all we know is that they end up in some military facility, nothing else,” he looked at Adam for a long moment. “For all we know, something worse will happen to you and Neil. You just gained your freedom. Don’t you think it’s worth the risk?”

That took Adam by surprise. He could see Monte and Tommy’s cybernetic links were disconnected and yet they had persisted in staying in the United Southern States for nearly a decade, if his memory was right.

“So what is keeping you here?”

Tommy’s face went blank as he shrugged. “Someone’s got to try, right?”

When Adam glanced at Monte, he got a hard look and a shake of the head. After a few moments, he tried again. “Where would Neil and I go?”

“Katy and I are going to try for the Free Republic of the North,” Kris piped up. “Why don’t you come with us? We can help you guys out –”

“Assuming we make it past the border and who knows how many checks,” Neil interrupted. “But the Free Republic of the North is our best bet, Adam. We sure as hell don’t want to go south to Mexa. They’re pretty much in bed with the United Southern States.”

Everyone was looking at him, and Adam could feel the dull throb start up again at the base of his head. What he wanted to do was look at Tommy and apologise again. But he settled for looking at his blanket and nodding his head. The sooner he made this headache go away, the better. He simply closed his eyes as he rested his head back against the wall. Try not to think.

More talking happened and Adam simply let it wash over him. Discussions of what precisely to do, when to do it, and a lot of speculation about someone or something called ‘Monster.’ He took a deep sigh and opened his eyes a bit. Tommy was looking at him, his expression curious and wary at the same time. Adam blinked a few times before he closed his eyes again and tried to not think about Tommy and his reactions either. He didn’t want to make his headache any worse.

_________________________________________________________

Something wasn’t right with this. She felt it down to her bones.

The security feeds showed nothing out of place until the very last hour before Leila and Eber Lambert had arrived at their lab for work as usual that Monday morning. And yet, she had picked up on Leila’s seditious thoughts. There was no doubt of them. Cam wasn’t a programmer by any means, but Leila’s thoughts had been clear and easy to pick up through the cybernetic link. Her strong sense of attachment to the programs, of wanting to protect them and simply do what was best for them.

Eber’s thoughts were more hazy and overridden by a definite sense of anger. Either Eber was smarter or simply so pissed off he literally wasn’t thinking straight.

And Cowell, well, he’d been good for virtually nothing.

She’d been given the barest of information – ‘Someone stole our blank android proptotypes’ – and was expected to give a report in two weeks’ time, detailing her progress. So far all she had were two angry and clueless programmers, an idiot CEO who was definitely hiding something, just over 8 hours of clearly tampered video feeds and absolutely no leads.

The problem was, Cowell was trained at hiding things, or she would have picked up on his secret. At least a hint of it.

She seriously wondered who was out to destroy her career. Her fingers tapped a steady, calm rhythn against the desk as she thought. For some reason, all Cowell had provided her with was lab footage. Everything had yet to be cleared for her. Paperwork moved more slowly than a crashing VR server sometimes, but this time she couldn’t tell what the reason was. Was it the standard slow pace of bureaucracy? Or was there a reason she wasn’t getting clearance?

Whatever the case,interviewing all the people who had been present at the building the night of the supposed robbery wasn’t something she was looking forward to in particular. But at this point it was about the only way she was going to pick up a lead.

If her superior thought she was dragging her feet on this, she’d whip out the Miller case on his sorry ass. She’d been hounded. Hounded and ended up producing an inferior investigation. This time before she went out digging she wanted to be damned sure of who her targets were, their possible motives, opportunities, and back-up plans.

It only took a moment to close her eyes and perform the rapid person search before she was up and out of her desk heading for the elevator.

The elevator ride down to the forensic department was silent and the whirr of constantly going fans greeted her when the doors opened. She easily walked through the desks, walking the familiar path until she spotted the person she needed.

“Magda,” Cam rested the palms of her hands on the desk, pushing her head through the plasma display. “Tell me you have something.”

Magda flicked her a look. “If you’ll kindly remove yourself from my screen so that I can finish…”

Cam didn’t say anything, but she stood back up, running her hands through her hair and feeling vaguely satisfied at irritating her friend. It always maddened the woman when limbs popped unexpectedly through her work, and Cam was going to take any amusement she could. Magda went back to work with an intent look on her face. The minutes ticked by and Cam thought she’d have to grab her friend and shake her but then Magda spoke.

“Got it. Alright,” Cam was already beside Magda’s side, an intent look on her face. “There’s a discrepency in one of the completed work orders for the night of the robbery.”

“Which? One of the last ones out?”

“No, acutally the very first one. Work order number 57930, for cleaning on Victory Day,” Magda reached up, touched some buttons. The screen zoomed out, while red circles appeared over the faulty information. “They suppposedly cleaned the lower floor labs, with white rooms.”

“Including the room where the theft happened.”

“Precisely. On the surface the work order looks fine, but here, the time discrepency is the first thing. It says they went in at 11:37 but they came out at 12:09? I’m sorry, but a floor with ten labs with additional white rooms, that’ll take you all night to clean.” Magda pointed to the field with names. “The second discrepency, the first truck to leave, number 412, it never made it back to the nearby vehicle depot it was supposed to go to. And finally, Topher Conway and Catherine Braden… well, they are in the worker database. However, Topher Conway works in a factory in Charleston and Catherine Braden runs a supply depot in the Gulf of Texas.”

“So who the hell was in there?” Cam muttered. “Is there any sort of identifying mark on the forged work order?”

“Oh, you’re going to love me,” Magda cracked her knuckles, not bothering to hide her smug tone. “There’s a bit of code that was attached to the file, instructing the computer to accept as is. It’s a good piece of hack, for something that was written on the spot.”

“And?”

“It’s got all the hallmarks of a hacker who goes by the name of Conway. Nice, neat, unusually precise. A bit sloppy towards the end, but that’s to be expected given how fast they were writing it.”

“Excellent,” Cam stood back up. “Can you have a copy sent to –”

“Already in your inbox,” Magda sat back and smirked a bit. “When the truck is located I’ll call you as soon as we’re done going over it. I accept full payment in the form of caffeine or honest to goodness food.”

“What, do I look like I’m made of credits?” a grin came to Cam’s face as she started walking away. “How about a meal pack? Almost like the real thing.”

“Holding you to that!” Magda called.

The grin lingered until Cam got back onto the elevator. She finally cut a break. A slim one, but an honest-to-goodness break, and she might actually get somewhere. The security guard was the hinge on possibly breaking this case for a lead. But there was no way that she was sending out the request over the cybernetic network. It was one thing to see a request and entirely another thing to see an actual face making the request. She figured that was the only reason why there had been a prompt response from the team out by Cowell Entertainment Industries. That and her stoic expression in the face of the team’s attempted joke.

When the security guard was brought into the interrogation room, she was there and waiting. Historically speaking, Cam was sure that interrogation rooms had remained the same since… well, as far back as she could tell. Standard grey walls and a simple metal chair and table, nothing more and nothing less. She fixed her gaze on the security guard and let the visual recognition software do its stuff. After a moment, a name appeared in the bottom left corner of her gaze.

“Sit, Mr. Greene,” she made a slight motion to the chair. “Should you co-operate fully, there should be no problems.”

“Of course,” he sat, though Cam was getting nervousness and puzzlement from him. “What do you need?”

Cam didn’t answer right away, simply walking to her seat. On the back of the man’s neck, she caught the glint of a port. Interesting, since he was simply a security guard. She sat down in the only other chair, opposite from the man. His file was nothing presupposing. Taylor Greene, twenty six years old, worked on security during the day and moonlighted as a performer for Cowell Industries as well.

“Mr. Greene, how long have you been a security guard for Cowell Industries now?” Cam rested her arms on the table and linked her fingers together.

“Almost six years. I was on patrol details for almost the entire time. I was only recently switched to another detail,” he looked at her for a moment. “Call me Taylor. Mr. Greene isn’t for me.”

So far, this was all matching up with what they knew. Cam didn’t make any visbile response to his last few words though. “And you also work as a performer for the same company?”

Taylor nodded. “I was one of the backup dancers for the Adam program. I took the job to help one of my friends out.”

A list of names flickered in her lower right field of vision. Sasha, Terrence, Brooke… but other than the Adam program, there was nothing else linking them. She might have to do some more background investigating into Taylor. One of them might have stumbled across something that could explain where the Adam program had disappeared to. There was no doubt in her mind that the disappearance of the Adam program and the android bodies were connected somehow.

“Hm, what can you tell me of the night of August 23rd, 2987?”

Taylor blinked and looked surprised but he spoke. “Um, well, I arrived for my shift. Nothing really happened and the first cleaning crew left just after midnight. A man and a woman. They had two grav beds with cleaning supplies…”

He trailed off, a frown coming to his face. Through the cybernetic link, Cam picked up on hazy images. The grav beds in question, frosted privacy screens up with misshapen silhouettes underneath. There was a man, but Taylor’s memory didn’t recall him clearly enough. But the woman, Taylor remembered her well. Blonde hair, clear skin, blue eyes, about five foot six. Cam’s cybernetic device quickly linked into Taylor’s and captured the image before disconnecting.

“And?” Cam prompted as her visual recognition ran the image.

“I just found out the other day that all cleaning supplies for white room labs are on the same floor, like a little cleaning depot. So why were they leaving with full grav beds?” Taylor rubbed at his forehead with his fingers. “And they supposedly signed in early. But when a shift changes, the next one is informed if anyone checked in. Mikhel didn’t say anything. So how did they get in?”

For a moment, Cam felt a surge of triumph as the visual recognition software finished its run and the small alert flashed in her field of vision. She dismissed it for now with a thought, and the large icon shrank down to the lower center of her visual field. She thought back to the section of de-electrified fence they’d found and the tampered security cameras that had shown a clear path to the office where the theft occurred.

All the evidence pointed to the simple fact that this was a planned job right from the very start. It made it even more galling to Cam.

“I assure you, we’re looking into every possible avenue. You’ve been most helpful,” Cam rose and headed for the door as she said dryly, “Taylor. Should we need your assistance with anything else, I’ll be sure to contact you.”

Taylor got up from his seat, looking fairly confused. “That’s it? Nothing else?”

“Nothing else,” Cam opened the door. “An officer will take you back to your housing block.”

Silence fell in the room as Taylor left. Cam closed the door and activated the small icon she’d dismissed earlier. A file appeared in her field of vision. The picture was exactly the same, even if the woman looked thoroughly unimpressed. A list of charges appeared as well. Small stuff, like breaking and entering into small places, disseminating anarchist material in VR. It was more than enough to bring her in and interrogate her. She’d already been positively identified from Taylor’s memories.

“Katy O’Connell,” Cam murmured to herself. “Now all I have to do is find her.”

_________________________________________________________

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

  


The past week had been the most stressful of Kris’s life to date. It was even worse than when he’d accidentally left the supply depot with an extra ration pack and the police had been called. But then again, it wasn’t everyday that he had, technically, stolen the most expensive androids, quote unquote, in the entire nation. Hell, probably in the entire world. Or modified people…

Tommy and Monte still couldn’t figure out precisely what Adam and Neil were.

All Kris knew was that Adam and Neil’s legal status was on shaky ground at best. If they were caught, the corrupt joke of the courts would side with Cowell Industries. It gave him a headache just thinking about it, truth be told. Adam and Neil wouldn’t be considered people, just property.

The scuffing of a foot against the ground snapped his attention back. Tommy was shaking at a ladder for a long moment, looking upwards. Dust motes floated down gently and after a moment, Tommy looked back at him.

“Okay, so we should surface in an abandoned building. There’s a supply depot about three quarters of a mile away.”

Kris nodded his head before he continued with, “You get the stuff you and Monte need to perform diagnostics on Adam and Neil. I’ll log onto the Subvert and see if we’ve gotten a message from Monster.”

“Then we hit up the supply depot and meet up with the others at the new spot.”

All Kris did was swallow and nod his head. God, he hoped he didn’t get seperated from Tommy. Sure he had the co-ordinates memorised, but there was something comforting in how Tommy got right down to business when needed.

Then again, Tommy was just downright scary at first. A gun to the back of Katy’s skull with an expression on his face that said he wasn’t above melting away half of her head with the plasma weapon. Not to mention the sprawling tattoos that covered his arms.

So when Kris saw him with Adam, he found himself wondering where precisely Tommy hid the hardened man. Because all he ever saw of Tommy with Adam was surprised looks, genuine laughter and a wide smile. It was like looking at a feedback loop. Adam just fed off it and Tommy was the one he talked to the most. According to Monte, his neural pathways were solidifying more rapidly and should be finished in the next twenty-four hours or so.

That wasn’t to say that Adam didn’t talk to anyone else. He did, sometimes calling them by other names mistakenly. Not that Kris even knew who those other people were. But if anything, Adam was the carefree spirit of the bunch. Neil was the pessimistic realist, just like the rest of them.

“Hey!” Fingers were snapped in front of his face and Kris looked over to see Tommy’s peeved expression. “You still with me?”

“Yeah, just…” Kris trailed off for a moment. “How do you get him out of his shell like that?”

“What?” Tommy looked at him like he’d grown another head. “Him?”

Kris clarified with, “Adam.”

Tommy blinked and shrugged. “I just talk to him, that’s all.”

For a moment, Kris thought of pressing it. There was an oddly detached look on Tommy’s face before he looked back at the ladder. But he just grunted and shifted his shouldered pack. All Tommy did was glance back at him before he simply said, “No talking when we get up there.” Kris nodded his head in acknowledgment and Tommy started up the ladder.

Their steps echoed, dull clangs marking their ascent up. The ladder stretched up into a concrete tube once they passed up to the sublevel. The darkness was complete until there was a soft grating sound and then a sliver of light. Kris leaned back as much as he could, barely able to see Tommy peering through before the vertical tunnel flooded with light.

Tommy pushed himself up and out easily in one fluid motion. Kris quickly hurried up and out as Tommy slid the lid back into place. The warehouse was abandoned, just like Tommy had said. The fading sunlight streamed in through the upper windows and there were some holes in the floor and scattered floorboards about. Anything that had been in the warehouse was stripped and as Kris followed after Tommy, he could see small clouds of dust stirred up by their feet. He reached forward and tapped Tommy on the shoulder before pointing down.

All Tommy did was pull a face and wave a hand in dismissal. Kris looked back at the line of muddled footprints and wondered how on Earth they were going to erase that evidence. They walked slowly, Tommy’s head turning from side to side. For a moment, Kris couldn’t figure out what he was looking for but when he glanced over, he saw a sole VR port. When he tried to veer away from Tommy towards it, he got the back of his pack grabbed in response.

Kris looked back at him while mouthing, ‘What?’ Tommy gave him a dirty look before stepping forward a bit. He grabbed a piece of floorboard and tossed it forward. The piece flew through the air before it suddenly broke into three pieces that skittered in the dust before coming to a stop. The raised dust clouds revealed thin red lines at irregular angles.

For a few seconds, all Kris did was stare at the neatly sliced pieces of wood. The hairs on the back of his neck were still raised. If this was an abandoned warehouse, why was it set up with booby traps? No, more like rat traps. No wonder Tommy wasn’t worried about the dust. The authorities already expected anarchists to scurry up into the building, only they’d tigger the trap when they went for the cheese. A shiver forced its way down his spine. All he did was look at Tommy and nod his head once before gesturing for him to continue. Tommy’s face was impassive before it momentarily shifted to a sympathetic look. During the rest of the walk, Kris didn’t deviate once.

They went straight to the back of the warehouse, where Tommy slung his pack around and pulled out his holopad. Then he pulled out the connector jack and the next thing Kris knew Tommy’s fingers were flying over the keypad. The lines of code flew by on the screen and surely there was no way that Tommy was following it all. But when Kris peered down, he saw Tommy’s eyes were rapidly moving with the screen. A few minutes passed in silence before Kris heard the distinct dying drone of something powering down.

Tommy motioned for him and Kris crouched down, pulling out his antiquated laptop. He glared when Tommy openly stared at it, surprise written all over his face. But when a placating hand was held up, Kris let it go. Holopads were expensive as hell; he wasn’t too sure he really wanted to think about precisely how Tommy got his hands on one.

Besides, Kris had specially retro-fitted this ancient device to connect up easily to the Subvert. Sure it wasn’t as flashy or as sleek as a holopad, but it got the job done and that was more than enough for him. A tap on the shoulder made him look up. Tommy mouthed, ‘Security protocols’ and Kris simply handed his laptop over. Any security code he wrote would be woefully inadequate compared to Tommy’s.

When his laptop was handed back, they got to work. Connecting to the Subvert wasn’t as easy up here. The signal was a bit weaker, but it was better to do it here than be tied down in one spot in the Catacombs and be caught when they were heading to the meet-up spot.

Sunlight was rapidly fading with the coming of night and the shadows in the warehouse were growing long. It was a bit eerie working beside Tommy in the growing dark. The man was mostly silent, barring a soft, sharp exhale of frustration. Every so often he’d turn his head and Kris caught a glimpse of his port. It was hard to not just ask questions. Bit by bit, he was learning about Tommy more than anyone else. Snippets of his conversations with Monte, his reactions to some things and his almost involuntary habit of rubbing at his port when he was nervous. But the expression on his face was always the same… and he was doing it right now.

A hand had crept up and was rubbing at it with that look of faint disgust on his face. Tommy suddenly looked up and Kris kept his gaze. This time, he wasn’t going to look away like he was guilty, like he had so many other times before. For a moment, Kris was pretty sure that this was the moment that Tommy would snap or do something in retaliation for such boldness.

Then suddenly, he whispered, “Have faith.”

Something shuttered in Tommy’s expression then as he murmured, “Pretty sure God doesn’t give a flying fuck.”

The words sounded harsh in the nearly pitch-black warehouse. In the bluish glow from the holopad, Tommy looked cold and unforgiving. Kris looked back at his own screen, still feeling the sting of those words. Almost as if Tommy had reached out and slapped him. Only now it was accompanied by a steady look that felt like it was burning a hole through his head. Well, religion was something else to add to the list of things they couldn’t agree on.

Kris sighed and worried his lip, unaware he was doing it. He focused all his attention now on the laptop, sifting through any news on the network that might help them. It took him awhile to notice the slowly flashing mail icon on the bottom of the screen. He opened it and the message was simple.

‘ _Pastche. 36.12.364.-6.9:12.9.20.M_ ’

That one line had his heart up in his throat. He had no idea where Pastche was, or how far down their Catacombs went, if they even had them. But there was a specific date and then they lost their window. Monster was infamous for sticking to his times and dates. He looked up and found Tommy peering intently at one of the windows. There were lights rapidly passing by and muted sounds, voices and vehicles. Whatever building was beside them was emptying out for the night.

Suddenly there was a burst of motion from Tommy. He rapidly disconnected his holopad, prompting Kris to save the message he was looking at. They quickly tucked their things away and slung their packs back on. Creeping along the wall now, they came to a door that Tommy quickly unlocked. He opened it a crack and when Kris leaned over to peer out, he just about had a shit fit.

“A fucking _police_ depot?” He hissed as he yanked Tommy back in. “Are you insane?”

Tommy threw off his hand. “We need supplies and some other things that are only here. Nowhere else. Like hov boards. And I need to know how much they have on record about Adam and Neil. If I can delete some files, then maybe it’ll help.”

“You and Katy,” Kris finally said after a few minutes. “Are both fucking insane. This is… I thought we were going to a location almost a mile off! We’ll never be able to pick up supplies after hitting a—”

Tommy glanced back at Kris, “As it happens, the depot will have the other supplies we need.” Kris could tell Tommy wanted to grin, if only a little. Then he sighed. “I don’t like it anymore than you, but it needs to be done.” Tommy glanced up at the fence. “Okay, there’s a door built into the fence and the cameras are going to turn off for four minutes. We need to run and not stop until we get inside the building.”

Kris looked at Tommy and then at the flashing red lights on the cameras. “But that’s not nearly –”

The rest of Kris’s sentence never came. The red lights went out and the next thing he knew, he was bolting after Tommy. It felt like forever when they got to the door and he could have screamed when Tommy opened it slowly and slipped through. Kris did the same, bolting for the building as Tommy took the time to close the door and relock it. His heart was pounding in his chest hard when Tommy came flying around the corner and pressed himself against the wall.

When Tommy looked at him with a raised eyebrow, Kris nodded his head.

Sneaking into the supply room felt like the longest five minutes of Kris’s life. They’d crawled in through duct work, after Tommy bypassed the security measures. It was slow work, moving through the metal tubes so as not to make unnecessary noise. If someone had told Kris two weeks ago that he’d be doing this, he would have laughed at them and told them, only at gunpoint.

Dropping into the supply room was thankfully the easiest part. The dim shapes in the large room were easy to discern and he looked around as Tommy screwed the grate back onto the duct vent. There was a bank of solid black that Kris was sure were cooling units. Along another side, there was a soft green glow from the various gravity devices on the wall. Grav beds, hov boards and mag lifts sat along side racks of plasma and ion weapons and the rarely used plasma charges. Hell, Kris could only recall one time when plasma charges had been used. Some prison riot from ages ago. Then again, that simply could have been the only one to make it to the news.

“All right, load up,” Tommy said easily. “We need to hustle.”

“Okay.” Kris said slowly as he moved over to the bank of black.

“I disabled the infra-red, audio and visual. We have about ten minutes before my distraction goes off.”

“Distraction?”

Kris wasn’t too sure he wanted to know. Tommy was walking over to the plasma weapons and snapped out a bag from somewhere. There was an intent look on his face as he pulled down a rifle and inspected it while answering.

“The computer system will get reports of multiple disturbances, after curfew. Hover cams in some areas will be down, so there’ll only be one response to that.”

For a few seconds all Kris could do was stare at Tommy. The plan was perfectly clear now. In all the chaos of police troops dispersing to deal with the supposed anarchists out and about… It would be easier to slip away then than it would be now. But Tommy had also said that he’d look into files about Adam and Neil… Oh.

“You set up a search and destroy worm. For all of us.”

At those soft words, Tommy looked up at Kris. “At this point, we’re in this together now, all of us. Doesn’t help if you and Katy were identified. Anything that sets back the police investigation is a bonus.”

Silence fell for a moment as Kris contemplated Tommy’s words. “You know what? Remind me to never really piss you off. You’d chew me up and spit me out before I even realised what happened.”

Tommy laughed at that, sounding genuinely amused. “I can promise it’ll be quick.”

“Small mercy.” Kris groused.

They worked quietly now, Tommy checking over weapons and filling up the bag. Kris found a handle on one of the cooling units and pulled the door open. Ration packs and meal packs were neatly lined up on the shelves. But it was the haphazard mess off to the side that caught his attention. When he pulled some boxes aside, he let loose a whoop of delight. Tommy swore from behind him and came stomping over.

“Kris, I swear I’ll…”

Kris shut up Tommy by reaching in and pulling out a small container of peaches. When he followed it up with, “There’s also a tub of ice cream in the back,” Tommy’s eyes lit up.

“Ice cream? Honest to goodness ice cream? Is that… that’s fruit! Real fucking fruit.”

“Looks like it. Someone snuck in some contraband.”

“Or has credits flying out the ass,” Tommy peered into the back. “Should teach them a lesson.”

When he replied with, “Definitely” Kris didn’t try to keep the grin from his face.

Kris’s pack was filled with ration, meal and hydra-packs, all nestled around the ice cream and the peaches. He sealed the bag shut and came over to where Tommy was standing once more. Tommy’s bag was sealed and he had some uniforms in hand.

“Time to suit up.”

Silently, Kris took the offered clothes from Tommy and they changed quickly by the dim light of his holopad. Their old clothes were stuffed into a pack and Kris vaguely wondered just how they would make it far on foot. Tommy was looking at his holopad, an intent look on his face, before he tucked it away.

“Just follow my lead, all right?”

His throat was dry and his tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of his mouth, but Kris nodded anyway. As if on cue, the wail of an alarm filled the building and then came the heavy pound of combat boots. The door slid open, and if Tommy’s helmet didn’t have the name of ‘Karasek’ stenciled on the back, Kris would have lost him in the crush of people. This was insane, there was no conceivable way that this would work and –

“Karasek! Hallet!”

The voice was sharp and Kris turned to see a woman with ‘Grey’ stenciled on her helmet come stomping towards them. Thank God he and Tommy had the visors on their helmets down already. He figured the ‘Oh shit’ he was thinking was clearly stamped over his face. Her eyes flicked to the bags they held and she nodded approvingly.

“Good, just making sure. Proceed to the third disturbance site and set up. Eliminate any unruly workers at your discretion, and take out the ringleaders. Understood?”

“Ma’am!”

Both he and Tommy barked the word and she disappeared back into the crush of people.

When he and Tommy made it to the vehicle bay they found officers lining up into the backs of transport trucks. But off to the side, Kris noticed others dressed like them, heading to single grav-cycles. He nudged Tommy and inclined his head slightly. Tommy took one look at the transport before he headed over to the grav-cycles. They got on and secured their packs before turning on the grav-cycles and filing out with the others. Kris was glad the on-board computer had everything and as the speed-generated wind whipped over the plasma shield, he could see his and Tommy’s turn off coming up.

Tommy veered off sharply down the exit ramp and Kris followed suit. The roar of the transport engines could be heard from just up ahead and Kris felt his stomach flop with nervousness. Just how had they not been busted yet? They drove into a dark alleyway and killed the grav-cycles. Right on cue, the com in their helmets crackled to life.

“Karasek, Hellet, we’re almost there. You two in position yet?”

“Roger,” Kris whispered as Tommy removed their packs. “Starting com silence now, sir.”

In the gloom of the alleyway, Kris caught the slight grin on Tommy’s face as he shouldered the heavy pack. Kris shouldered his own pack as well, hoping his arms didn’t fall off from the weight. When Tommy lingered by the grav-cycle, Kris came over. On the grav-cycle’s small monitor was a news report playing. Kris turned his com back on and set the auto-tune on and the words gradually filtered in.

>   
> _“…The androids have been missing for nearly two weeks now and Fuller Corporation is offering a reward for their return. Anyone with information should contact their local police station immediately. In other local news –”_   
> 

Tommy silenced the monitor with a well-aimed shot from his plasma gun. The other grav-cycle got the same treatment and when they went into the building, the acrid smell of melted metal lingered in Kris’s nose. It was a storage facility and they moved quickly around the large covered shapes, heading for the back rooms. Maybe Tommy was too intent, but Kris could have sworn he heard the rustle of something moving. He reached forward and grabbed Tommy’s pack.

In the moment when Tommy turned around to glare at him, the sound came again. There was a rustle of cloth followed by the soft creak of a boot stepping. Someone had followed them. Kris looked around before he noticed a soft billowing along the bottom of the covered objects. He didn’t even think, just carefully unshouldered his pack and pushed it underneath before crawling under the cover. A minute later, Tommy did the same. They were underneath a facility flatbed truck and in the dim light, Kris could barely make out the shape of something Tommy held out to him.

When he took it, he knew immediately what it was: a plasma gun.

The shape felt weird in his hand and he hoped he didn’t have to use it. Tommy was lying beside him, flat on his stomach, still as death and taking slow, measured breaths. Kris tried to do the same, but found his heart was thudding wildly in his chest again. The steps were coming closer and shit, this was not –

Tommy’s hand on his shoulder almost made him jump. But there was a steady, intent look on his face and Kris just nodded his head and forced himself to breath slowly and steadily as well. This was so not going to end well and…

The silhouette of booted feet came to a stop right in front of them. Kris felt his breath hitch into his throat and everything seemed to slow down as gloved fingers appeared on the edge of the fabric. It was pulled up and then a visored face came into view.

For the first time in his life, Kris well and truly panicked.

It all seemed to slow down. He was vaguely aware of Tommy moving beside him. But the next thing Kris knew, his plasma gun went off and caught the police officer right in the visor. The officer disappeared in a blast of blue energy and then Tommy was wriggling out, dragging his pack after him.

Kris just lay there, staring blankly at the faintly smoking gun still in his hand. Holy God, he had just shot someone in the face. He had just shot someone in the face and that had not been part of the plan at all. This was… this was…

“Kris, move it!” Tommy looked anxious as he peered back down. “Now! We’ve got three minutes, max, until this place is crawling with cops!”

That got him moving. He grabbed his pack and wriggled out as well. As soon as he was out, he ran after Tommy, reshouldering his pack. There was no finesse this time as they got to the door to the back room. The door handle was shot off, then the door kicked in and they thundered down the stairs and through a hallway crammed with metal crates to a storage room. There was a sealed door against the back wall that elicted some swearing from Tommy. Kris fumbled for a plasma grenade and held it out.

“Shit, I didn’t think you’d go and plug the guy in the face.” Tommy muttered as he yanked out the pin and placed it at the foot of the sealed door.

“I didn’t – Well, I never intended – ”

Kris kept trying to stammer out an apology as Tommy dragged him back into the hallway and behind a metal crate. The explosion came not even thirty seconds later and then they were running through the blue smoke and falling bits of rubble.

Stale Catacombs air greeted them and Tommy was fumbling for something from his pack. When he produced the hov boards and tossed them on the ground, Kris had a sinking feeling.

“I’ve never been on one of those.” Kris shook his head. “This is insane! I mean… fuck, insane. And I think I just killed a guy and –”

Tommy stepped onto the hov board and it came to life, the green gravity field activating and lifting him off the ground about half a foot. “Well, you can stay and go to jail if you like. But it’s worse in there than it is out here. Actually, just get on yours and grab hold. I think Katy would kill me if anything happened to you. And she’s still pissed at me for putting a gun to her head. Don’t think I should go and add getting you killed to the list.”

For a moment, Kris looked back at the smoking hole and then back to the hov board. He got on, nearly overbalancing when the board came to life. When he managed to regain some semblance of balance he grabbed hold of Tommy’s pack and looped his wrists through for good measure. Just in case.

“Where in the hell did you learn to use a hov board?” Kris wished he didn’t sound hoarse with fright.

“When I escaped from prison.”

That was all Tommy said before he leaned forward sharply and the hov board responded by leaping forward. Tears started to form up in Kris’s eyes as the wind whipped up around them. Abandoned buildings flew past and it was all Kris could do to hold on for dear life. It felt like Tommy wasn’t too sure where he was going and was just focused on putting as much distance as possible between them and the storage facility. There were leaps over chasms between buildings, skids down and across some crumbled ruins… And Kris was honestly wondering how they were still in one piece. For that matter, just how the hell he was still hanging on.

After what felt like an eternity, Tommy banked to a sharp halt and jumped off the board. Still connected to his pack, Kris tumbled off his board and pulled Tommy to the ground with him. Somehow, he freed his shaking hands and wobbled to his feet. Tommy was already back up and grabbing their boards. Kris could only watch blankly as Tommy tucked them under his arm. Then he seized Kris’s hand and dragged him through a low doorway, into a half crumbling building.

They picked their way over debris, going as far back into the building as they could. Tommy used a small, handheld plasma light to guide their way. As soon as he came to a stop he unshouldered his pack and dumped it on the ground. Kris numbly did the same before they sat down. Tommy killed the light. Pitch black enveloped them and Kris was pretty sure if Tommy hadn’t been sitting right beside him, he would have outright panicked. The darkness and silence sat like heavy weights, until finally Kris whispered, anything to break the silence.

“Remind me again, why did we not bring someone else with us?”

Tommy didn’t respond for a moment. And then, “Two-people teams are easier. Easier to respond, faster and quicker to get in and out, if both people know what they’re doing.”

That felt like a jibe. Kris didn’t really blame him. “Then why the hell did you want me to come with you on this run?” Tommy’s answer surprised Kris. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing!”

“…You know exactly what the hell you’re doing. You’re just,” the pause Tommy took said it all.Then he finished off dryly with, “Idealistic. Don’t know how that happened.”

If Kris could have stared, he would have. It seemed, after this event, ‘idealistic’ was putting it as nicely as he possibly could. “I don’t know how to use a plasma gun, I haven’t been at this nearly as long as you and Monte. All I know is that things need to change and I couldn’t stand that everyone thought everything was fine.”

“Yeah, indoctrination has that effect. I accidentally got my hands on a history book from the Free Republic of the North. You know you can actually follow a religion in the North?”

“Really?” Kris felt his heart in his throat again. “That’s –”

“Don’t feed me some bullshit line. You know about Christianity, at the very least. You talk about God a lot.” Tommy’s voice was wry. “I think Katy likes that about you. Well, it’s one of the things.”

There was an absurdity to this situation that nearly had Kris in hysterical laughter. They were hiding out from the cops after raiding one of their depots and Tommy was calling him out on his religion and inferring that Katy liked that about him. It was easier, and better, to reply because Kris honestly wasn’t sure if he could stop laughing if he started.

“I’d rather put my trust in God than some corporation that claims to care for us all. If they cared, why are so many of us working in factories, living in slums and trying to scrape together credits? Hell, why did Adam and Neil feel it was better to try and escape VR than stay there?”

There was a long silence from Tommy and then, “I find it very hard to believe in God after all of this. After everything that’s happened to me. Fuck, everything that’s happened to Monte, to Adam and Neil… to everyone I’ve loved. And this _God_ isn’t coughing up the answers any time soon, so…”

“But you must think that you can do something,” Kris lapsed into silence for a moment before he continued with, “You’ve been here for a decade, as far as I know, trying to make some changes. You and Monte, that’s longer than any other hacker has survived on the fringes. You two are up there with Monster, hacker legends. Why else would you stay here so long if you didn’t have hope?"

The darkness was silent for a few minutes as Tommy didn’t respond. And when he did, it wasn’t in reply to Kris’s question.

“That was the first time you shot someone, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I hope they’re alright.”

“Figures. First time you shoot someone and it’s the face,” Tommy gave a soft snort. “When we get back, you and Katy are getting some lessons.”

“What, not Adam or Neil?” Kris griped.

“No, since Adam is still acclimatizing. He doesn’t have the same experience sets as Neil, so who knows how long that will take.” There was an accusing tone to Tommy’s voice.

“Hopefully not too long then. We need to get moving,” Kris shifted, flexing his feet. “…Monster finally contacted us.”

Tommy prompted with, “And?”

“We have to meet them in about a week’s time, on the twelfth. We’d have to –”

Kris stopped as Tommy hissed, “Sh!”

For a few moments, he couldn’t hear anything. But then he heard a whining drone of something with a generated field passing by. They fell silent again. The quiet was periodically interspersed with the noise of the drone and Kris just hoped that nothing stumbled across them. It seemed like the seconds and minutes dragged by before all they heard was silence again, pierced by nothing but their slow breathing.

“Coast is clear.” The sound of fumbling came and then the plasma light illuminated Tommy’s face. “We’ll wait a bit before we head deeper and then meet up with the others.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kris paused for a second as he looked at his pack. “How did they even know we’d…” even as he said it, he realised what it was. “The grav-cycles.”

“We probably weren’t anywhere near the supposed dispatch spot and they sent someone to investigate. They triangulated the location of the grav-cycles. Did you close the door behind you?”

Kris knew he looked sheepish as he said, “Um… possibly?”

“You’ve got to pay attention to the little things,” Tommy began after a disgusted sounding ‘tch.’ “It’s so damned important, you have no idea.”

“Duly noted,” Kris fell silent for a moment as he stared at his pack. “Hey, do you think the ice cream is okay?”

“Fucking hell, that’s not exactly the detail you should worry about.”

Kris was positive he heard the smile in Tommy’s voice, plain as day. They made their way out of the ruined building. Tommy got the hov boards out and, slowly, they descended further down into the Catacombs. It took them awhile to orient themselves and head in towards the meeting point. It seemed like forever before Kris caught the murmur of voices. A grin came to his face as he heard Katy’s sharp rebuke to something. He glanced over at Tommy and leaned forward slightly, making the hov board speed up.

When he came into the building, he saw Katy stare at him and then launch herself at him. He barely had time to get off the hov board. His feet touched the ground and next thing he knew, he had her hugging him tightly around the neck.

“Kris, you’re all right! What happened?” She pulled back, drawing a hand from the back of his neck. “And you’re bleeding.”

He glanced down to see her fingertips were bright red. “Oh, didn’t even notice. And don’t yell at Tommy,” he shifted back into her field of vision as she tried to glare at Tommy. “The point is the both of us are back safely. We’ve got something else more important to discuss.”

That caught everyone’s attention. Monte looked up from where he, Neil and Adam were talking. Tommy was already sauntering over, hov board tucked underneath his arm. Kris didn’t say anything as he watched Adam’s eyes fix on Tommy. He half-heartedly responded as Katy fussed over him. Tommy came to a stop beside Monte and dumped the bag down before he plunked himself down on the ground beside Adam.

“Kris,” Katy turned his head back to look at her. “Did you hear from –”

“Monster finally contacted us.” He said.

Kris took Katy’s hand and they walked over to where the others were. Katy sat down as Kris dumped his heavy pack beside Tommy’s. When he sat down beside her, everyone’s gaze was on him. He swallowed a bit, trying to steady his sudden case of nerves.

“He wants us to meet him in Pastche. We don’t have a very long time frame.” Kris quickly related the rest of the message details before he added on, “But I don’t have the faintest idea where Pastche is.”

“It’s a small town, about two days outside of LA,” Monte said. “It shouldn’t be too hard to get to. We can probably stow away in the back of a transport.”

“The transports leave from the depots at the LA border, right?” Tommy frowned when Monte nodded his head before he looked at Adam and Neil. “Are you two up to that kind of travelling?”

“I’m steadier on my feet,” Adam looked thoughtful. “I’m fairly sure I can do it.”

Neil nodded before saying, “Either way, getting to the LA border from where we are will take about a day,” he gave Kris a thoughtful look. “Did this message from Monster say anything else?”

Kris shook his head. “My guess is that any other decision will be made once we’ve met up.”

Silence fell for a few seconds before Adam spoke once more. “… Is anyone else thinking this might be a trap?”

Everyone looked at Adam, who simply stared back and shrugged. But then Tommy gave a dry laugh.

“Monster’s the only Runner still active. The USS hasn’t been able to capture him. Or crack his network.” Tommy paused, a thoughtful look on his face. “It’s a chance we’ll have to take. If we’re going to Pastche, we’d better start packing up.”

“We can do that, then catch a ride on a transport in the morning,” Monte rubbed at his forehead before he stared off absently for a moment. “Might as well get some sleep.”

“Oh!” Kris got up and went to his dumped pack. “I found a treat for us all.”

There were many curious looks that vanished once he pulled the semi-soft ice cream tub from the pack along with the semi-crushed peaches. Smiles and eager talk came easily as everyone dug out a saved spork and started to eat the softening treat. Katy scooted in closer to him and he smiled. Then Tommy’s words flashed through his mind and it was easier to eat another spoonful of ice cream than think about the flush he could feel creeping over his face.

“You okay?” Katy whispered into his ear.

“Fine.”

Kris figured she really would have bought that if he hadn’t sounded half-strangled. He coughed and glanced at her once again. When she grinned at him he couldn’t help but smile in return before looking away after a moment. …and found Adam’s concerned expression fixed right on him. Adam started to say something, but Tommy touched him on the shoulder with a slight shake of his head.

“Kris is fine,” Tommy’s next words were nearly lost in the soft babble of conversation. “Don’t worry about him, babyboy.”

Adam’s gaze lingered on him before turning to Tommy. For a brief moment, Kris felt almost certain that Adam was going to counter with something. But a thoughtful look came to his face and then Adam nodded his head and reached for another spoonful of ice cream.

Kris ate another spoonful slowly and felt Katy nudge his shoulder. When he looked over, she directed a pointed look to Tommy and Adam, then looked back at him with a widening smile. Kris smiled a bit, but raised both eyebrows and then shook his head.

And as they all talked and ate, Kris felt some of his anxiety lift away. Surely everything would work out.

_________________________________________________________

The meal pack sitting before her was comprised of hydroponically grown vegetables, genetically engineered meat and a pitiful attempt at something that could be called dessert. But it was nutritionally sound and she should probably eat it.

She still poked at it, as she had for the last thirty minutes.

It had been just over two weeks since her and Eber’s boys had disappeared without a trace. Officer Camilla Grey... whatever she found she wasn’t revealing to anyone. But she must have found something because Leila had gone down to the LA police station with Eber, and Grey went from stoic to pleased. Adam’s back-up dancers had been there, their drab work uniforms blending in with the grey concrete walls. One by one, Camilla had talked to them all.

For some it was only a few minutes, like the security guard with the grim and determined expression. A girl with short black hair, Sasha, if Leila had heard right from snippets of conversation, she had been in that room for nearly three hours. Leila’s own turn had come after Eber’s hour and when the two hours was up, she felt like she’d been through the wringer.

And since she and Eber had come back home, she couldn’t quite figure out what connection three workers and a security guard all had in common besides working with the Adam program. There had to be something else at work here. But they weren’t finding answers, and Leila wasn’t sure they would without a little more pushing.

“You haven’t eaten.”

She looked up at the sound of Eber’s voice. He sat down at the table beside her. With a shrug, she poked at something that was supposed to be a pork cutlet before she threw her fork down. She hung her head and buried her hands in her hair. There was a long silence from Eber before a fork with a biteful of food came into her field of vision.

“You’ve got to eat someth– ”

Suddenly anger gripped her and she knocked the fork from Eber’s grasp. How on Earth could he be taking all of this so calmly? True, she knew her husband, but after that first display of anger there had been nothing else from him. And that she just didn’t get, it was so uncharacteristic of him. She expected anger and bitterness about the loss of their boys, sarcasm and muttering about the system. Right now, it felt like he didn’t care.

“I’m. Not. Hungry.” She bit out in a snarl.

Eber glowered at her. “Leila, there’s nothing I can really do with the active investigation.”

Just like that, Leila suddenly felt as if she had all the anger drained out of her. She felt so tired, weary and wrung completely out. “I know, I know,” she ran her hands back through her hair before rubbing at her face. She did understand Eber couldn’t do anything. Neither of them could without crossing more than a few lines they wouldn’t be able to explain. She lapsed into silence for a moment as she watched Eber. Then she said, “You’re not going to like me.”

“Is this because of your mood swings for the past two weeks?” Eber asked dryly. “Or how you’ve just been taking out all of your frustration on me?”

Leila focused her gaze on her uneaten meal. “Since we’re still not getting answers, I think we need to try something else.”

“Something else?” Eber sounded confused and then, “Leila, that’s –”

“That officer isn’t going to tell us anything,” Leila looked up at him. “And I am sick and tired of playing this game. We put our blood and sweat into our boys. Hell, we damned well put our souls into them too. And Fuller’s just going to treat them like property?”

Eber frowned, but Leila could see that anger come back, simmering beneath a veneer of rationality. She turned to look at him. He met her gaze and she took a deep breath.

“And something else occurred to me. You know how Cowelll was pushing for the Adam and Neil programs to be… uploaded?”

“Yeah. But that probably was a crap shoot that would have failed. I mean, they basically wanted a sentient version of the program that walked and talked. Running a program is one thing, but programming a body… entirely different.”

“Some might argue not. Muscle memory, mnemonic devices… aren’t they just another form of programming an individual for a specific function?”

“You could say that,” Eber took a deep breath and got up from his seat, pacing alongside the counter. “But that’s with an individual that’s already functioning at what would be full mental capacity. Say Adam and Neil successfully uploaded into those… bodies. They would need time to acclimatise and learn even the most basic of functions. A virtual reality is more easily manipulated than reality.”

“But we programmed that into them. Adapting to the VR enviroment around them. There was some leeway for them to adapt and absorb new information.” Leila frowned. “The Neil program was designed to adapt more for the long term. There were some bugs that resulted from the sheer amount of data that the program accrued over twelve years.”

“Hon, the Adam program had the same problem after five years. We took the key algorithms from the Neil program, tweaked the code and made Adam. And he developed the same bugs as the Neil program, but faster.”

“Which still stumps me,” Leila shook her head. “How can two distinctly different programs develop almost the same, identical problem? And one much faster than the other.”

Eber fell silent at that, a thoughtful look crossing his face. He quirked a curious smile at her before he left the kitchen. For a few minutes, Leila thought of following him, thinking perhaps he’d had enough. But he came back into the kitchen, holopad in hand. He sat down beside her at the kitchen table and started up the device. She watched as he turned on the projection function and miniature modules appeared in the air before them.

“These are the problem bits of code from Adam and Neil. I copied it from the last save, about a week before they vanished,”

Silence fell for a few minutes as Eber rapidly typed on the holopad. Lines of code flickered by with highlighted secitions seperating themselves out. It took five minutes for everything to run through, and then Eber was typing once more. Even now she could see a trend in the code lines. Neil’s personality was so intricate and interconnected that it was almost like looking at a neural map of a person, digitized down. Adam’s was more haphazard and as the lines of code flickered by, she frowned. This was nothing remotely like the initial code she and Eber wrote for Adam. Then she saw something that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“What the fuck is _that_?”

“Ah, that little nugget right there,” Eber sounded both grim and pleased as he highlighted it and brought it to the forefront. “Is something I’m personally calling our chimera. Took me forever to find. That subroutine somehow grafted itself onto Adam’s base code and infected everything else from there. From what I’ve been able to discern it’s basically an aggregator. ”

“Well, no wonder he was so glitchy,” Leila frowned though. “That’s how Adam always seemed to get bigger and bigger. No matter how many restores we did, he always ended up back to some other parameter set, and expanded from there. That damned aggregator just had him collect so much information.”

“More than likely,” Eber paused. “Now, I’ve been doing more digging through what was saved while you were moping about,” he typed rapidly again and some boxes came floating into view. “Something, not the virus, set up Adam to run an interconnected information cascade restore.”

Leila stared at the float boxes. “What? When did these run?”

“Every two days _after_ we ran a reset,” Eber typed something else in. The float boxes disappeared and a code map was projected up now. “And look at the bigger picture here. This is the state of the Neil program after twelve years and the Adam program after five.”

Another image came up on the screen and Leila felt a chill run over her as she whispered, “Oh God, they are equal.”

“Somehow, the aggregator changed and accelerated Adam’s progress. It was theorized that if an AI program ran for long enough…”

There was a grim but ashen, uneasy look to Eber’s face. Leila was personally glad that she hadn’t eaten much of anything. Her stomach was churning and she probably would have thrown up if she had eaten something. All those restores they had done to Adam, the sheer amount of time they had shelved Neil… She pushed her chair back and ducked her head between her legs.

“Eber, we’re terrible parents…” she wheezed. “They were… are… and we… oh God, oh God, oh God…”

His chair scraped and then his hand was on her back, rubbing circles. “No, we’re not. We didn’t know. But our boys are adaptive. And now, we’re going to help them as much as we can.”

Leila took a few more deep breaths, feeling her stomach settle down. “Okay. However we can. So there’s something else you should know.”

All Eber did was raise an eyebrow, still rubbing at her back.

“Notice anything in that subroutine? Any of that coding familiar?” when Eber frowned a bit, Leila continued. “Remember that guy we apprenticed awhile back?”

“Pittman?” Eber said and then understanding dawned in his eyes. “But he’s dead.”

“No, he’s missing. They never found his body. I know his style, it’s clear as day. Like a virtuoso. But he’s working with someone else. That code that got into Adam’s base code is an amalgamation of two styles. One of those styles is Monte. And whoever Monte’s working with, they know what they’re doing and then some.”

Eber stared at Leila for a long moment before he whispered, “Hon, did you go looking –”

“Damn right I did. And I don’t regret a thing. But we need to be careful now. Our boys are…” She took a slow, calming breath. “We can’t afford to disappear, just in case. Well, not yet anyway.”

“All right,” Eber looked intent. It was the expression that said he’d get it done and damn the consequences. “I think it’s time we further modified our implants. Officer Grey _cannot_ get wind of this at all, and if our last few meetings with her are anything to go by, that could be a serious issue.”

“Agreed. Do we still have any of that scotch about?”

Eber gave a dry laugh. “Still have some stashed away. I thought we were saving that for a special occasion.”

“This is. Besides, those modifications hurt like a bitch. Might as well have something to cushion the blow.” She gave him a small smile.

An answering smile came to Eber’s face. “After all this time, you still know how to show me a good time on a Saturday night.”

Leila kissed Eber softly before she pulled him in for a hug. “We’ll find them.”

“I know,” Eber hugged her tightly. “We will.”

_________________________________________________________

The transport rocked gently as it sped along the high-speed transport lanes on the hyperway. In the ventilated cargo hold, Tommy shifted, stretching his feet out, deeper into the hay. Along one side of the spacious cargo crate the sheep milled about, bleating softly. Adam was sitting beside him, curled up underneath a blanket and dozing off fitfully even as slats of light skittered rapidly over them. His head was on Tommy’s shoulder, which had gone numb about an hour ago. Tommy couldn’t feel anything from the lower neck down.

Tommy wasn’t so inclined to try and move though. He was starting to worry about Adam. Monte had checked Adam and Neil both before they left Los Angeles. Neil had pretty much bounced right back from uploading. He was talking fine and after a series of quick cognitive tests, Monte proclaimed him perfectly healthy. Adam was fine, but he still mentioned headaches and particularly intense dreams that he couldn’t quite recall. After waking up, he’d sometimes walk around with a pensive look on his face.

Neil himself had looked puzzled and worried about it. Monte had promised to give Adam a much closer once over when they arrived at Pastche. But now, as he dozed and Tommy could easily see every frown that came to his face… it was kind of hard to not wonder if something had gone wrong.

Adam jerked a bit and lurched up, body rigid and eyes suddenly wide open with a panicked look. Tommy froze for a moment until he saw the slump of relaxed shoulders. Adam let his torso hang forward, head bowed as he took deep breaths. Adam was always disoriented a bit after waking up abruptly. Tommy lost track of the number of times he’d called them all by some other name.

“Hey, babyboy,” he reached out and patted Adam’s shoulder. “It’s just a bad dream. You’re up now.”

A nod and an absent look from Adam was the only response Tommy got. After a minute Adam leaned back against the wall and rested his head on Tommy’s shoulder again. A glance down showed Tommy the gaunt lines of Adam’s face and the growing dark circles underneath his eyes.

“You don’t remember anything?” Tommy asked softly as he pulled the blanket up more.

Adam didn’t say anything for a moment. “Just remember when I woke up.”

“What do you remember?”

“…terror? No… panic, is probably the better word. I remember waking up, feeling that tube down my throat… having to get it out. That we’d be caught and something bad would happen. That we might be decomissioned or…”

Silence came once more and there was a tension to Adam’s body again. Tommy wished he knew what to say or do, because Monte was a hell of a lot better with shit like this. At least, Monte could always talk Tommy down from a panic attack. He coughed a bit to clear his throat.

“On the upside, it could have been worse.” Tommy reached for the small bag beside him. “Are you hungry?”

Adam shook his head as he sat back up. He levelled Tommy with a stare. Nothing was said for a long moment, and then he said something Tommy wasn’t expecting in the slightest. “What happened to you?”

“What makes you ask that?”

Nothing was said for a few minutes. Tommy found himself wanting a ration pack,even if it was just for the simple fact that he could avoid these questions that Adam sometimes threw out. They always seemed to cut right to the heart of the matter and left Tommy desperately wishing Adam would soon develop some tact.

But now Adam seemed to be considering his words carefully. “You keep touching your port whenever you’re nervous. Or when you’re talking about other things, usually about something you consider bad.”

As if on cue, Tommy realised he was indeed rubbing at the port on the back of his neck. He snatched his hand away, avoiding Adam’s gaze and staring at the other side of the crate. The silence between them suddenly became anticipatory and hesitant at the same time. He was starting to think that the ration pack would have been a really, really excellent idea. When he glanced over at Adam, he was simply looking at him.

Just looking at him. No pity, no attempted understanding. Just someone waiting for an answer to the question. Somehow, that made it better for Tommy. He swallowed a bit thickly and shifted, crossing his legs and wondering where to start.

“I’m sorry,” Adam finally spoke again. “I keep asking you questions you don’t want to answer –”

“No, you and Neil have been nothing but honest with us from the get-go. You, Neil, Kris and Katy. It’s past due that me and Monte reciprocated.”

“… I think the fact that you and Monte are the most infamous hackers in the United Southern States is good enough for Kris and Katy.”

Adam’s words were slow and hesitant, prompting Tommy to ask, “…Right. And what do you think?”

“I don’t think it’s my place to say –” Adam started but Tommy cut him off.

“We’re going to meet with a man who will possibly smuggle us over the border to the Free Republic of the North. You barely know me and you’d possibly trust me with your life?”

Silence fell for a moment, heavy as Adam shifted to look at Tommy. For one of the few times in Tommy’s life, he felt nervousness creep over his skin, prickling and making everything hyper-aware. He met Adam’s gaze and it felt like those blue irises were looking past everything, right down to his very soul.

“I would.” Adam simply said.

That was almost like a slap to the face. Tommy just blinked at Adam, completely knocked off-kilter. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? He kept Adam’s gaze for a few seconds longer before he shifted it to the sheep. The words felt clogged in his throat and he had to start forcing them out.

“I was fourteen when I did my first bit of hacking. Made sure a depot shipment came to the Burbank slums. I wanted to get my sister a meal pack. There was a rumour floating around that the beef in a certain batch lot was actual real beef.”

“Was it?” Adam asked as he stifled a yawn and settled back against Tommy’s shoulder.

“Yeah. My dad and mom sent me to the depot to get the meal packs. That was our Freedom Day treat. Best meal pack I’d ever eaten in my life. But then I kept noticing things. Like how certain areas had shortages when there was some big corporate event. The rolling brownouts in the slums, even though the hills in Pedrour, Palisa and Vanyus were always lit. But it was the people going missing that got to me. I lost some friends that way,”

Even after all this time, it still got to Tommy. That he was never able to find out what happened to Max, Steve and Ashlyn. He took a few deep breaths, steadying himself. All that resentment was fairly useless at the moment. There were other things to focus on.

“So I went looking for answers. Not that I found them. But I learned to hack along the way. Two years after I got started, I was busted. Forgot to cover my tracks and the police came storming into the dump where I had holed up.”

“Prison.” The single word was more a statement than a question from Adam.

“Yeah. Calista Prison. The only place that hackers get sent to in the western half of the United Southern States. And yet for all the hackers that get sent there, there’s always room,” Tommy lapsed into silence for a moment before he continued with, “I had a farce of a trial and was processed not even twenty four hours afterwards.”

When he felt a hand on his, he looked over at Adam. Adam’s arm was stretched up and Tommy realised he was rubbing at his port again. Adam didn’t say anything, just gently closed his hand over Tommy’s. A heavy weight seemed to settle in Tommy’s chest as he continued.

“The port installation was the worst. They make you wait in a room and you can hear the people on the other side screaming. For thirty minutes all I heard were people screaming and begging for it to end. And the guards laughed. They fucking _laughed_ ,” he swallowed hard. “The room looked clean, but it reeked of blood. They had to fight to get me strapped down on the bed. They shove your face in a padded little ring and strap you in.”

A chill ran through Tommy. His mouth suddenly felt dry, his palms going clammy and nausea growing in the pit of his stomach. It still felt like it had happened yesterday, and the panic rose in the back of his throat. Then he felt Adam’s warm fingers in the short hairs on the nape of his neck, stroking gently. He focused on that, focused on the touch against his skin and the pull and release of Adam’s fingers in his hair. After a few minutes, the panic subsided and he released the tension in a sigh before he continued.

“They injected the nanites in, but they didn’t bother to waste good sedative on me. I felt everything as those little fuckers bored a hole into the back of my neck. Once the hole was done, they put in the metal piece and then the nanites made the connection. It was…”

No words really came to him to describe how that felt. The tiny minute burrowings beneath his skin, that made him feel like he had to itch until his fingers were ragged and bleeding. Of when they first jacked him into VR to test the connection. The overwhelming rush of virtual reality had left him very unsure in the first few days. Distinguishing between reality and that fake world took some getting used to. It didn’t help that they’d totally messed him up and conducted interrogations in VR and reality.

The bleating of sheep was the only thing he heard for awhile. This still felt a bit too raw for Tommy. Monte had been able to put two and two together when Tommy said he was from the slums and landed himself in prison. But actually saying what had been done to him… he never had to explain before. He suddenly felt cold all over and seriously wondered if he should have just stubbornly refused to answer Adam’s question.

“Tommy,” Adam murmured. “You - ”

“It’s okay,” Tommy interrupted as he tightened his grip on Adam’s hand. Adam gripped back and Tommy found it a little easier to focus on the here and now. “Besides, I think we’re almost to Pastche.”

Adam made a vague sound before asking, “How do you know?”

“The light’s moving slower. And the truck is slowing down. I think it’s pulling off the hyperway.”

That was all Tommy said. The light coming through the ventilation slats was moving more slowly. The faint roar of passing vehicles was gone and there was just the hum and vibration from the transport engine. Nothing more was said, they simply sat there leaning against one another as the transport continued on. Adam’s breathing evened out, and when Tommy finally looked down he saw that Adam was fast asleep again. But this wasn’t the same restless sleep that he usually had. His face was slack and he looked untroubled. Slowly, Tommy let go of Adam’s hand and shifted, so his arm was along Adam’s shoulder. He pulled him in a bit more and slouched down against the wall.

The plasma gun was easily in reach right beside him and when the clunk of the mag-brakes came, it had honestly startled him. He had the gun up and aimed at the doors of the crate. But he felt a bit fuzzy and it took a few seconds for him to realise he had fallen asleep. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Maybe he was more tired than he thought. Adam was sitting up and yawning. For the first time since Tommy first saw him, he looked well and truly rested. Some of the circles under his eyes were gone and he looked alert.

“We’re here?” Adam yawned again while stretching.

Tommy nodded as he tucked his gun away. He reached into his pack, pulling out his holopad. It took a moment to pull up the transport’s shipping manifesto. “The Pastche livestock pens. It’s all mainly an automated system. The sheep will be unloaded and then the crates are stacked until tomorrow. We’ll –”

There was an abrupt clang and then the doors swung open. The sheep hurried out, anxious to escape the small area for a bigger one. When the last one was out, the doors closed and then there was a sharp lurch as the entire crate was lifted up. A few seconds later, there was a clang and jolting shudder, then everything else was still. Tommy looked over to find Adam pressed against the wall, a grin on his face.

“Well that was fun. You know how to show a guy a good time. Little warning next time?”

“Sorry. And if I planned on showing you a good time, you’d know it. Trust me.” Tommy replied as he got to his feet.

There was a surprised look on Adam’s face and then he raised an eyebrow. “Is that a promise?”

For some reason, Tommy felt his entire face flush and he had no idea what he mumbled in response. Adam was chuckling now, saying something about learning more about the concepts of sin and vice. Tommy was more interested in figuring out why he was suddenly reacting like some fresh-faced kid right out of training. Because honestly, this was kinda getting ridiculous.

The sound of machinery firing up came now, and every ten minutes or so, there was the clang and vibration of more crates being stacked up around them. It took awhile for the noise to end and then there was the quiet whisper of,

“Everyone okay?”

Katy’s voice carried and there were assenting murmurs in response. Tommy walked to the side, peering through the slats. It was hard to position himself so he could see,but after a few minutes, he caught sight of an eye looking up at him from another crate in the adjoning stack and about three down. The eye narrowed a bit and then Neil’s amused voice said,

“Sheep? Really, you and Monte couldn’t have found us a transport carrying something else?”

“Next time, your Majesty,” Monte spoke now, sounding amused. “Besides Pastche is mainly an agricultural depot. A lot of mechanised systems, not many people…”

The unspoken words of, ‘It’s the perfect place to meet’ hung in the air. Tommy looked back at Adam, who was picking bits of straw from his clothes. He looked back at the slat to see Monte’s familiar eyes peering up at him from beside Neil.

“I don’t know about you two, but I for one am tired of the smell of sheep. How about we get out of here, hm?”

“Sounds good to me.” Tommy couldn’t agree more.

He stepped back from the slat as the whirr of machines came, the system starting up. Adam came over to stand beside him. There was a clunk from a crate lower down and then the murmur of Kris and Katy’s voices. A frown came to Tommy’s face. Kris sounded ragged and worn down. Come to think of it, Kris was starting to look like he wasn’t getting enough sleep himself. It was entirely probable, but still it did make –

“Tommy?” Adam’s voice was accompanied by a hand on the shoulder.

“I’m fine. Really.” He gave Adam a brief smile before he heard the clunk of the mechanical arm lifting the heavy lock on the outside of their door. “You know how to climb?”

Adam’s reply of ‘In theory’ made for a fairly amusing and simultaneously terrifying descent on Tommy’s part. He knew Adam had gained control over his motor system, but sometimes he drifted off as if he still thought he had some sort of auto-pilot function. Tommy was pretty sure Adam didn’t realise how his movements reflected his moods. Easy and fluid when he was feeling rested and content, Adam moved between them like some sort of elegant construct. But latetly, tired and stressed, it was all abrupt motion and short, sharp, staccato bursts.

Whatever calm he had found in that brief snatch of sleep, it was gone now. Tommy could see it by the time Adam safely descended. He could see that Adam was drawing into himself once more. A frown came to his face and when he looked over, Monte’s eyes were resting on him. There was a thoughtful look on his friend’s face and before he even said anything, Monte was ushering Kris, Katy and Neil around the corner of a crate.

“C’mon, Adam,” Tommy began. “The others –”

“You’re not fine,” Adam said softly.

The words were like a sonic hammer on a slab of concrete. Tommy stared at Adam, honestly unsure for the first time in his life of what to say. Adam was facing him now, a vaguely haunted look in his eyes. And all Tommy did was watch as Adam opened his mouth and closed it a few times before he finally spoke.

“You’re not alright, Tommy. How much longer are you going to fool yourself? I don’t think I can even fool myself much longer.”

That caught Tommy’s attention. “What?” He narrowed his eyes, puzzling over Adam’s words before he said, “Fool yourself about what?”

Adam looked down at his feet now and the silence grew heavy before he said, “I think I might be defective.”

Of all the things Adam could have said, that was the last thing Tommy expected. And then Adam followed up with,

“Do you think I can be fixed in the North?”

It took Tommy a few minutes to get his voice working again before he managed to evenly say, “What the _fuck_ makes you think you’re defective?”

“Everything!” Adam snapped. “Neil he just… look how well he’s doing! Like nothing’s wrong! Me, I can’t really sleep well. I keep thinking there’s some important thing I’ve forgotten, but I don’t know what it is! I couldn’t walk well for a day and half and my cognitive processes took so damned long to come together who knows what _the fuck_ went wrong,” his voice was bitter as he finished off with, “What other explanation could there be other than I am defective.” It wasn’t a question, it was stated like a belief, like a fact.

Tommy just stared at him for a long moment in disbelief. Then he said, “Okay, after we talk to Monster, we’ll deal with this. Because if you’re defective,” it was impossible to keep the derision from his voice. “Then I’m so fucked up, I shouldn’t have made it off the assembly line. I swear, if I hear that bullshit from you again… defective my fucking _ass_. Let’s go.”

He started in the direction Monte took and a few seconds later, Adam’s steps came. The others were waiting a few crates down. Tommy knew some looks were directed their way but he stonily stared ahead. After a few seconds, Monte jumped in. There was a small service elevator that led down to some of the lower levels.

As they all squeezed in, with Kris barely able to close the door, Adam’s words of, ‘You’re not alright’ flashed through his mind. It probably wouldn’t help to focus too much on that. Adam was proving himself to be one ridiculously introspective person. By the time the elevator came to a stop, Tommy was sure he had a frown on his face.

It probably stayed on his face as Monte urged them off and then down the hallway. The end of the hallway seemed to have everyone else stumped when they all stopped in front of it. But Monte handed him the holopad and Tommy could have laughed when he saw the digital schematic. The pathetic security codes were overridden and the square panel they all stood on started to slowly descend.

Lights gently flickered on as they went down and a grating sound from overhead caught his attention. He looked up just in time to see a panel slide into place, sealing them in. A slight feeling of unease washed over him and he was starting to wonder if Adam had been justified in thinking this could be a trap.

The platform clunked into place and more lights flickered on, revealing a narrow walkway into a different area. There was a choke point if Tommy ever saw one. He drew his plasma gun and stepped forward, fingering the safety off. Monte fell in step beside him. After a few seconds, there was the hesitant sound of Kris’s footsteps.

Everyone else picked up and lingered back a bit as the three of them started into the hallway. Their progress was slow and that only made it worse in Tommy’s opinion. A slight bend in the hallway came up and they all slowed down.

The sudden loss of gravity was disorienting and nauseating. One moment, Tommy was looking at a curve in the hallway and then he was tossed into the air and spinning around, struggling to right himself. His jacket flopped around his head as the sound of footsteps came closer. Momentary flashes of legs and boots came into his field of vision and he took the visual reference point, aiming his gun in that direction.

The feet came to a stop and then there was an amused voice saying, “By all means, shoot me. Don’t think that’s in anyone’s best interent right now.”

Kris made some sputtering sounds of disbelief and then, “Are you Monster?”

The feet didn’t move, but Tommy saw the pant material twist slightly. “You must be Kris. Kris Allen, born in 2973, in Jackson. I could go into more detail, but I don’t think you want me to… do you?”

All that came from Kris for a moment or two was shocked silence and then, “How did you–”

“Rule number one,” the amusement was gone from Monster’s voice now. “Never give your real name. As you so cleverly did when I finally got your message.”

“Are you going to let us down or what? I’m not particularly enjoying the head rush here.”

Monte’s voice was annoyed enough to get some physical response from Monster. Tommy couldn’t agree more as he felt two hands snag his jacket and pull. He ended up going nowhere and bodies collided into him. Fuck, this was getting more and more –

“All right. I’m turning off the field now.”

That was all the warning they got before gravity kicked right back in. He landed on the ground hard and then had all the air promptly knocked out of him when someone fell on top of him. When the person pushed themselves up, he found himself looking at Adam’s amused, but contrite, face.

“Sorry,” he got up and started to brush at Tommy’s jacket. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tommy figured that would have been more believeable if he hadn’t been wheezing. “You?”

“Neil and I are fine,” Adam shrugged, his eyes flicking over to where Neil was getting to his feet. “C’mon.”

Tommy frowned. What did that mean? But there was an edgy look on Adam’s face as he got up and extended a hand Tommy’s way, and Tommy let the comment slide. For a moment, all Tommy did was look at him before taking his arm and hauling himself up. Adam’s strange behaviour made perfect sense after Tommy put his gun away and turned to look at Monster.

The man was intimidating, there was no getting around it. He stood there with his arms cross and a carefully neutral look on his face. But his hair hung loose in dreadlocks and those crossed arms had many a tattoo down their lengths. Tommy would have admired the man if he wasn’t peeved about the gravity stunt. Monster’s eyes were flicking between them all, assessing and saying nothing. As they all got to their feet and dusted off, he finally spoke again.

“I’ve got a spot set up. You all can rest first, have something to eat. Then in the morning we’ll discuss the situation.”

“Why not now?” Tommy couldn’t help but ask. Quite frankly, he was more than ready to get some concrete answers on how to get out of this fucking country.

Monster looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, “You’ve all spent a good amount of time travelling and it’s quite apparent.”

If Tommy hadn’t been standing beside Adam, he would have missed Neil’s whisper of, “Do we smell that sheepy? Sheepish? … Like sheep?” Adam just shrugged with a half puzzled look and replied with a soft, “I guess? Either way, we all apparently stink.” A momentary quirk to Monster’s mouth told Tommy that he heard everything.

“C’mon.”

That was the last thing Monster said as he tilted his head and started back down the hallway. The feeling that he should have his gun out and drawn didn’t quite leave Tommy. Even as the hallway continued to curve and started to slope down, he still had a nagging feeling that a trap was going to be sprung on them. The descent went on for about a quarter mile by Tommy’s reckoning before the hallway straightened out to a thick pair of steel doors. The kind that would take an ion torch a few hours to burn though. They were cracked open enough for a few people to slip through. Tommy scowled at the door, still feeling a bit unsure. But then Adam’s hand slipped into his and he was pulled along in Adam’s wake.

Going through honestly did ease some of Tommy’s fears. The room was obviously a former storage room that had been converted for living. There were rows of cots set up, with stiff neoprene dividers between them with open slider doors for privacy. There was a small bench along the wall with some ration and meal packs stacked alongside hydra-packs. The small heating unit was right beside it, but heating the food packs only made them more vile in Tommy’s opinion.

As his eyes skimmed over everything, they fell to the center of the room. He couldn’t help but stare in surprise.

Sitting there was a beat up old, upholstered couch. It had obviously seem better days and was looking threadbare in some spots. But still… it was an actual couch. No hard molded polyplastic chairs and tables that every house in the slums had. This looked like a couch that could have been in one of the swanky houses in Pedrour.

“Just get settled in, relax for now,” Monster began as he walked into the room. “This area is secure and –”

“Is that a portable shower unit?”

Neil’s tone of amazement had everyone looking his way and then in the direction he was looking at. Tommy couldn’t help but blink in complete surprise. It was a screened off area in a corner, with a big frosted tank on the outside. Tubes ran up the side to a box of some kind and disappeared into the screened area.

“With hot water.”

“With water pressure? And actual hot water? Not that lukewarm shit that’s in the slums?”

Adam’s hand tightened in his and Tommy vaguely wondered just how disconnected he’d become if Neil was more excited about a hot shower than he was. He squeezed Adam’s hand and took a deep breath before detangling their fingers.

“First thing in the morning, right?”

Monster nodded. “First thing.”

“Alright,” Tommy looked over at everyone. “I get dibs on the first shower.”

_________________________________________________________

  



	4. Chapter 4

  


For the first time in a long while, Adam felt like he had well and truly rested. He wasn’t sure of the time, but he had abandoned his cot with the privacy screens in favour of the old couch. There had been an old battered book sitting on the other cushion and Adam hadn’t been able to resist. Every so often, there would be a soft cough and the rustle of sheets, but then the sound of slow breathing would resume, some of it loud and congested, but always blending in with the rhythm of the others.

After finding a plasma lamp and turning it on to the lowest setting, he smoothed his fingers across the cover. The old material crackled a bit under his touch, leather he suspected from a vague memory he couldn’t fully bring to mind. He opened the book carefully, fingers lingering on the corner of the pages. The paper felt rough under his fingertips and the words on the page seemed like they jumped out of the page, stark black against the murky rag paper.

“Enjoying the book?”

Adam nearly jumped at the whispered words, but he turned to look back and saw Monster coming around to the other side of the couch. “Haven’t read it. Just, I have never seen a real book before. I think I’m the only one,” he tilted his head back toward the cots. “Neil’s seen them even, with Leila and E—with our programmers.”

Monster grunted as he sat down, looking at the cover. “Books are rare. I picked that up on the black market. Smuggled in from the North.”

“What’s it about?’

There was a long moment of silence as Monster simply looked at the book in Adam’s hands. Then, “A man who creates something. A being. It doesn’t go so well for him.”

Adam closed the book and studied the cover. “I was created. I was a program at first. Ones and zeroes, that formed binary, that comprised a program. Somehow, that binary was turned into electrial impulses and here I am now.” He frowned at some distant idea, “It wasn’t… There was a virus, I think. I’m not too sure, but here I am.”

“Here you are. And Neil,” Monster paused for a long moment. “Is Adam really your name?”

“Yes. It’s as good as any. My program designation was adam.exe and I was an entertainment construct. They called me Adam. I mainly performed for VR users.”

“So you played for rich people.”

Adam nodded his head, glancing over at Monster. He had the same starburst implant that Tommy and the others had, nestled just at the ear. But there was something else snaking down from it, along the side of his neck and curving around to the back. Adam turned his attention back to the cover, turning over the idea in his mind. Why did Monster have this book, about a being and creator?

“Were you an early prototype model?”

“…I’m not an android. I’m human. Well, mostly. I’ve got so many cybernetic implants…” Monster gave a dry snort. “Don’t ask. Because when the others wake up, I’m sure they’ll want to know.”

“Oh,” Adam wasn’t too sure if he really felt disappointed or not. “I’m pretty sure Neil and I are constructs of some sort.”

There was a pronounced silence at that before Monster said, “I won’t know for sure until I run a diagnostic. But if you are a construct, you and Neil probably have the same manufacturer. So that’ll make it easy to do any modifications, if you like.”

A spike of pain jolted through Adam’s stomach, lodging in his thoat. It wasn’t physical though. Another emotion. He went through his mental list, full of ones he could describe and even more he could not. This was new. This was like making Tommy smile, only it hurt.

“Can you run mine now?” Adam turned to face Monster directly. “Before everyone else wakes up?”

Monster blinked. He seemed a bit surprised at the intensity in Adam’s voice but didn’t say anything about it. “Sure. Let me get my holopad first.”

Adam nodded, fingers tightening on the book. He could remember when Tommy and Monte had first shown up. They’d stepped outside, but Adam had heard them clear as day, trying to figure out if Adam and Neil were androids or modified humans. The second option had left Adam with a bad feeling in his gut. But at the same time, he didn’t want to be an android. That would just mean he was a program made mobile in the physical world. He wanted this body to be his own. The simple experiences of walking, talking, breathing, eating… if he had any religious inclination, he could – and probably would have – call it a miracle. He wanted to be human.

The emotion came to him in a flash. The ache like a physical thing clenching around his stomach. Hope.

Soft footsteps came towards the couch again, and sharp trepidation made him feel light-headed. For better or for worse now, Adam was going to get his answer. Monster sat down, holopad and VR cable in hand.

“Okay, it’s fairly straightforward. I have the diagnostic program ready to go. I just have to plug this cable into your port and the program will do the rest. There are some physical side effects, but it’s not as pronounced as full immersion in VR.”

“Like what?” Adam wondered how he got his tongue to move, his mouth was so dry.

“It varies from person to person. But there’s nausea, dry mouth, vertigo, temporary motor loss… you don’t really know your symptoms until after you come out of VR for the first time.” Monster paused. “Are you sure you want –”

“Yes.”

Adam still felt nervous, but there was so much floating around about him and Neil that simply needed answering. What were they, how easily could they be tracked if they plugged into VR… though Adam was more concerned to know why he was developing so differently from Neil. He knew their program parameters weren’t the same, but the marked differences had him really worried. Whatever they were, Adam felt like he’d gone wrong somehow.

“Okay. It might be easier if you lie on your side, this being your first time.”

When Monster gestured to the couch, Adam lay down on it, leaving the book by his head. The age worn fabric was soft against his skin as he stretched a bit, trying to get comfortable. Soft ‘bips’ came from the holopad as Monster worked quickly, fingers typing out rapid-fire commands. Adam stared at the back of the couch, vaguely thinking that it wasn’t anywhere close to how Tommy typed. Slow and steady, with a slower cadence to it rhythmic.

“I’m going to plug you in now,” Monster’s hand rested on the back of Adam’s neck, brushing the hair aside. “You might feel a pinch.”

Adam kept his voice low, but it didn’t hide the anxiety. “Just a pinch?”

“It’s one of those things. I feel a pinch but I know others who swear their head is being lopped off. Then I have to turn the jack and lock it into place. Unexpected pull-out from VR isn’t pleasant.”

Adam just nodded his head, not really wanting to think about that. Monster was silent for a moment before he spoke once more.

“Ready?”

His gut was churning but Adam nodded his head anyway. The need for answers overrode everything at the moment. Monster’s hand pressed down more firmly, keeping the hair out of the way. For a moment, Adam wondered if anything was going to happen. And then he felt it. The touch of metal to metal sent a shudder through him.

But having the metal acutally sliding into him, feeling tiny electrical impulses respond and bring it to life… it was odd, there was no denying that. Monster pressed it in all the way before giving it a firm twist. He felt the click, of the jack locking into place. Then the world seemed to fade out and was overlaid with a blue grid. It was almost like a dream, seeing everything that he was in gentle pulses of the grid. It took him a few moments to realise the steady pulse of light matched his heartbeat.

And it seemed to be slowing down compared to when he was first jacked in. He was vaguely aware of a cold sensation creeping up from his fingers and toes. Moving his head seemed to take some monumental effort. And all he saw were blurry shapes moving around quickly and gesturing. One settled in front of him and a blinding light was shone into his eyes. He closed and opened them slowly. There were louder voices now, sounding muffled as if they were coming through a thick wall. But the growing, overwhelming impulse was to simply close his eyes and rest. So he did.

When he opened his eyes five minutes later he wasn’t on the couch. He was lying on a cot with someone warm wrapped around him. He blinked, disoriented, and looked down to see Tommy’s hair just below his chin. But what he was feeling was far too much skin.

He remained still for a moment before he shifted a bit. Tommy moved, craning his head up to look at him.

For the first time in his existence, Adam found himself at a distinct loss of what to say. Some things were easier when he was a program. A subroutine would have kicked in with the appropiate response to meet the parameters of the situation. But now, he was lying in bed with Tommy wrapped around him with what felt like the bare minimum of clothing. With these parameters, just what exactly was he supposed to say?

He tried a smile but immediately stopped, fully analysing the situation. There was anger in Tommy’s eyes, unmitigated and intent. But the longer Adam looked, he saw something else he wasn’t expecting in the slightest: fear. A horrible feeling washed through him, and suddenly the most obvious thing to ask popped into his head.

“Might I ask why you don’t have on any pants?”

The fear was suddenly gone, replaced by sheer relief for a moment before the anger kicked right back in. Tommy scowled, “Because I barely kept your stupid ass from going into a pre-cryo-stasis state, that’s why.”

“Oh.” Adam paused for a moment, feeling confused. “Is there a particular reason why I went into that state?”

“Monster can explain. He said he wasn’t saying a thing until he knew you were fine. How are you feeling?”

Adam thought it over for a moment. “Confused mostly. A bit thirsty. Headache. Neck kind of hurts too.”

Tommy sat up, pushing the blankets off. Adam shivered a bit and pushed himself up. Tommy’s arms were crossed and he was staring at Adam intently. It looked like he wanted to say something and was thinking it over. All Adam knew was that horrible feeling washed over him again, making him feel contrite. He hadn’t meant to make Tommy so worried, but also it wasn’t as if he had any control over what happened.

But it was easier to look away than to continue to meet Tommy’s gaze. His eyes wandered down, taking in the smooth-looking expanse of Tommy’s chest and Adam wondered if it felt as smooth as it looked. He had a sudden, impulsive thought of actually finding out, just reaching out to run his fingers along the pale expanse, but before he could act on it, Tommy climbed off the cot, bare feet slapping against the concrete floor as he walked over to a pile of folded clothes. Adam sat up all the way, watching Tommy distractedly and wondering precisely where that thought had come from.

He watched as Tommy pulled his pants up and then started on a shirt. A strange sensation sat low in his belly now and he just continued to stare as Tommy got dressed. When Tommy looked back, it wasn’t directly at him. No, Tommy’s gaze was fixed slightly lower than Adam’s face.

It was strange to feel heat flush his face and he wondered if it had anything to do with the strange sensation in his stomach. There was pressure building up and Adam pulled the blankets up more over himself. There was some sort of physical reaction happening, the front of his pants lifting up. Maybe if he didn’t pay any attention to it, it would go away.

“Are you still cold?” Tommy came over and shook out a blanket or two before settling them around Adam’s shoulders. “Maybe you should stay in bed.”

“I’ll come out,” Adam looked up at him. “You’re not mad any more?”

A conflicted expression came to Tommy’s face. “I’m still mad. It’s more that you scared the shit out of everyone. One minute we’re asleep and next thing we know Monster is yelling for help. You were shutting down. I mean, you’re hands and feet felt like blocks of ice. I’ve only ever seen that happen with prisoners who go into solitary. They put them in cryo-freeze and shove them in a box.”

“I’m sorry,” the words tumbled from Adam’s mouth before he really thought about it. “I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just… I want answers.”

He gave a half-hearted shrug and pulled the blanket in closer. Tommy was silent for a moment before he sat back down on the bed beside him. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft but intent.

“We all want answers, Adam. You’re going to have to start thinking more long-term about some things. And take others into consideration too. I know it’s all new for you but,” Tommy trailed off for a moment before continuing, “All factors have to be taken into account before any decision can be reached.”

“No one can have all the relevant factors known to them,” Adam gave a frustrated sigh. “Sometimes, I think things were easier when I was a program.”

That got a smile from Tommy. “Welcome to being human, babyboy. Most of us just muddle on through as best we can.”

“Seriously?” Adam snorted when Tommy nodded. “How has homo sapiens survived as a species for so long then? I mean…”

Adam trailed off, making vague gestures in place of the words that failed him. Because if humanity had been muddling on through for so long, the astronomical odds of their surviving… it was truly too much to encompass. His program could have calculated it in a flash, and Adam could guess just how low that percentage would be. Tommy blinked and stared before he burst out laughing. Adam blinked but smiled tentatively. He failed to see where the humour was in his words.

“C’mon. I think most of your answers are still waiting out there. And mine too.”

Adam watched as Tommy rose. “Can I have a moment?”

“Sure.” Tommy paused for a moment before he came back over and settled another blanket around Adam’s shoulders.

Silence came as Tommy left him. Adam waited until he heard the soft murmur of conversation from outside the sleeping areas before he took a deep breath and composed himself. The strange feeling in his gut was gone and when he looked down at his lap, it looked like it had last night. Feeling much relieved, he pulled the blankets in tighter around himself and walked out.

The couch was full and the few odd seats taken as well. Everyone turned to look at him, silence falling. Neil was the first one up, walking around the couch and coming over. Adam came to a stop, and Neil stood in front of him, peering into his face. Apparently Neil found something, or what he was looking for because Adam found himself pulled into a tight hug.

“Don’t scare me like that.” Neil’s words were whispered, fierce and determined.

That horrible feeling was back and Adam was now sure it could be nothing else but guilt. He awkwardly managed to get a blanket clad arm around Neil’s shoulder and hugged him back tightly. “Sorry. I didn’t think anything would happen from a diagnostic.” He pulled back and looked at everyone as he and Neil started for the couch. “Sorry.”

“Why are you apologising?” Katy got up from her spot and practically pushed him into it. “From what I can gather something happened no one was expecting.”

Monster nodded his head as he untucked his holopad from under his arm. “Whoever made you two, they knew what they were doing.”

“So we are androids.” Adam couldn’t have kept the bitterness from his voice if he tried.

“No. You and Neil are completely human,” Monster placed his holopad down after some rapid typing. It threw up a projection in response. “You two are like me, enhanced with cybernetics. Only yours,” His mouth twisted in wry amusement, “are more discreet than mine. Fine-tuned.”

“So you’re saying that Fuller’s somehow managed to get AI programs into entirely human bodies?” Monte sounded sceptical. “That’s been theory for the past thirty years.”

“Maybe it was a matter of needing the right program or the right kind of body. But Adam and Neil are fully human. And judging from what happened to Adam earlier on, they’re also capable of redownloading back into a virtual enviroment.”

“I almost downloaded into your holopad?” Adam said. He felt a surge of displeasure from Neil and the realization that if he’d been downloaded into the holopad he would essentially be erased. The holopad simply wasn’t large enough to support Adam’s memory. He would have been dead. The idea felt strange even as Neil insistantly pushed it on him. The last time he’d considered dying had been while planning to escape VR, and then it hasn’t been fear of dying, but fear of being erased. Changed. Adam barely refocused as Monster answered his question.

“Almost,” Monster sighed and rubbed at his brow. “It took me, Kris, Tommy and Monte all we had to stop the program. It tried to put you in stasis when you jacked in. Because of this,”

Monster leaned forward and tapped something. A faint image of Adam came up before it zoomed in to the nape of his neck. There was the ghostly image of his barcode and right beside it, in what would have been skin…

“We’ve been chipped?” Neil’s voice sounded outraged and it snapped Adam’s attention back to the room and conversation.

“It’s what prompted the auto-run program and nearly downloaded Adam. It forced the body into a state of suspended animation, ready for cryo-stasis. I don’t think it would be a good idea for –”

“Take it out.” Adam was glad for the blankets. He felt cold again.

“I don’t think –” Monster began,

“Take the fucking thing out!”

Adam’s words were harsh and panicked even to his own ears. Monte stood up now, a serious look on his face, and Adam had a feeling he was about to hear something he wouldn’t like in the slightest.

“Adam, Neil, if you two are planning on leaving, it’s something you should leave in until after you cross the border. It’ll be easier to transport two supposed android bodies than two people who have never been in the system.”

Adam was quiet at Monte’s words. There was some sense in that, he supposed. But having something in the back of his neck that could knock him out if he tried to jack into VR… as soon as he could, he wanted the thing out. But then Neil’s quiet words left everyone momentarily speechless.

“I’m not leaving.”

Even as he turned to ask if Neil had taken leave of his senses, there was a determined look on his face that Adam wasn’t too sure he should question. And then right on the heels of that,

“Me neither.”

All attention was directed Katy’s way. Adam felt taken aback for the second time in as many seconds. He didn’t know what to say to either of them. Hadn’t the plan been to… And Neil wanted to split up..? That didn’t sit right. Kris though was looking at her in outright surprise, and he was also the first one to break the silence.

“What do you mean you’re not leaving?” Kris sounded worried. “The whole plan was for us to leave!”

“I know, but Adam and Neil’s existence begs more questions and –”

“There’ll always be more questions in this damn country!”

For the first time in nearly three weeks, Adam was treated to a first hand look at the growing effects of anger. Kris’s face was flushed and Adam could see him struggling to keep his composure. Maybe it was just him, but he could virtually see Kris’ rationality slipping away, bit by bit. Katy turned to face Kris directly now.

“There’s still so much to do here and –”

“What made you change your mind?” Kris sounded like he was trying very hard to keep calm and rational. “Because I really don’t understand this _sudden_ change.”

Katy looked a bit unsure, but then she said, “Neil and I were talking one night –”

“You were talking?” Kris shot Neil a dirty look. “About what? How the two of you could possibly save this entirely fucked up country single-handedly?”

“Hey, look,” Neil interrupted.

“Shut up.” Kris didn’t even look at him, his gaze fixed on Katy. “C’mon, you know nothing good is going to happen if you stay –”

“She can make up her own mind.”

“I’m aware of that, jackass,” Kris snarled as he turned on Neil. “Don’t get in the middle of this.”

Neil scowled, crossed his arms and simply said, “Too damned late. So quit acting like a prick and –”

It was weird, seeing the exact moment that someone went past a certain point. Adam could have sworn he saw the last remaining vestige of rationality sputter and then extinguish beneath the wave of anger. Kris went perfectly still and then, as if in slow motion he saw Kris’s hand move upwards in an arc. It curled into a fist and Adam knew there was no way he could stop it.

The blow landed solidly on Neil’s jaw, knocking him off the arm of the chair and sending him sprawling on the floor. It seemed nearly instantaneous that Kris was clambering over to him. Then everything seemed to snap back into real time. There were exclamations of surprise and Adam threw off the blankets, surging forward with the others, trying to separate Neil and Kris.

His arms slid into the writhing mass of limbs and he somehow managed to grab hold of Kris’s waist. He stood up, muscles exerting and the next thing he knew, he had an armful of thrashing Kris. Neil was sprawled on the floor, his lip swollen and bloodied. Adam watched, distracted for a moment as Neil touched his lip and winced, the smear of blood bright crimson against his fingertips. Monte and Monster were helping Neil to his feet now, while Tommy was sitting beside Katy.

They were murmuring quietly and Tommy wasn’t exactly keeping his distance from her anymore. He focused his attention back on the situation at hand and once Neil was safely on the other side of the room, he finally spoke.

“If I put you down, you can’t go after Neil. Okay?”

“Fine.”

That was all Kris snapped out in response. He had stopped thrashing a minute ago and Adam carefully put him back down. Kris shook himself free of Adam’s arms and stormed off to one of the private sleeping areas. Katy watched him go and a few minutes later she followed after him. When she slid the door shut behind her, Adam sat back down on the couch. Neil was sitting on the arm again and Monte was patching up his lip with a small capsule of something.

“There. Liqui-skin applied. That should heal up in a day or so. But you’re going to have wicked brusies on your face.”

Neil grimaced and it shifted quickly from annoyance to pain. He hissed and gingerly touched his cheek and jaw. But now Monster was watching him with worry. He regarded Neil for a long moment before he finally spoke.

“If you choose to stay, it won’t be easy. You’ll need an entirely new identity. And you can’t ever get medical attention. That barcode on your neck is going to make things difficult as well. It marks you out as property, and Fuller will always want you back. And the chip… I can try to remove it, but I won’t know the settings on it unless I run a diagnostic. It might have something programmed to stop removal. After Adam, I’d rather not take that chance.”

“I’ll make do.” Neil shrugged. “Maybe Katy can show me the ropes or –”

“Or you’ll both get yourselves killed eventually. What you want to do is on an entirely different level than what Katy and Kris do,” Monte shook his head. “I guess me and Tommy will have to keep you alive.”

Tommy however, now spoke up. “I’m leaving too.”

Adam wasn’t too sure what to make of the sombre look on Tommy’s face. Monster just nodded his head in acceptance. Neil shrugged as he slowly got up and headed back to his sleeping quarters. Monte was looking at Tommy and had a look that could only be called resignation, as though he’d seen Tommy’s decision coming. Adam wondered if he had. After a moment, he motioned to Tommy and walked away. Adam watched as Tommy got up and followed him. A flicker of movement from the corner of his eye made him turn to face Monster. The dreadlocked man was looking around, a frown on his face.

“And you?” Monster asked. “What’s your decision?”

There was a brief moment when Adam considered staying. He didn’t want to leave Neil here to fend for himself. He was his brother. But he’d already thought about this, every day since he’d woken up. And Tommy was leaving.

“I’m leaving,” Adam fell silent for a moment before he added on, “Do you know yesterday was the first time I saw the sky? When I looked out through the slats on the crate, it was just pale yellow as far as I could see.”

A slight smile came to Monster’s face. “The sky’s actually blue. That yellow you saw was smog.”

It wasn’t so easy to try and visualise a blue sky. Something so bright, dazzling and open-looking… “There’s a lot I don’t know of the world. I don’t think this is the place to learn much of anything.”

“Alright. I need to go get an answer from Kris. Judging from those two over there,”

Adam peered around Monster to find Monte and Tommy talking rapidly. Neither looked happy and seemed intent on getting their point across.

“Monte might be staying still,” Monster’s gaze fixed on something as he leaned over to pick it up. “You might as well keep busy and read something.”

Adam took the offered book and Monster headed in the direction of the sleeping quarters. He pulled the blankets in tighter around himself as he opened the cover, turned the page and started reading. When the couch dipped beside him, he looked up. Tommy was stretched out, head resting on the back with his eyes closed. For a moment Adam remained still before he shifted in closer.

“Is everything all right?”

Tommy cracked open his eyes and he looked so weary and tired that Adam felt that he should march Tommy right back to the cot and make him rest.

“I’m fine, don’t worry, babyboy.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Adam had wondered this since Tommy had started. “That’s not my name.”

“I know your name. But you’re still learning and… it’s nice that you aren’t as jaded as I am.”

“…Did you know that the sky is blue?”

Tommy blinked, seemingly surprised by this abrupt change in topic but went with it. “I’ve only heard that. Never seen a picture of a blue sky though. It’s always that dirty yellow colour. Permasmog. Like it’s burnt into the air.”

“How can a country ruin the sky?” Adam closed the book. “How can they make me, something that is defying a lot of theories?”

“Theories are just that: theories. Guesses, if you want to get down to it. And you’re not something, you’re someone. You are someone, Adam. I’ll tell you that as many times as it takes for it to sink in.”

The words weren’t spoken loudly, but it sounded like a roar in Adam’s ears. Tommy turned his head to look at him and Adam nodded. He might have been created somewhere, and have some barcode on the back of his neck, but he was still someone. His origins didn’t diminsh that fact in the slightest. He gave Tommy a smile.

“Thank you.”

Tommy’s returning grin was a bit lopsided and made Adam smile even more. “You’re welcome, babyboy.”

Adam hesitated all of two seconds before scooting to the edge of the couch, so his arm pressed into the armrest. He blinked at Tommy expectantly who was still staring back at him, now with curiosity. Tommy blinked and then snorted a soft laugh. He arched his back, stretching, then laid himself out along the couch, head propping up on Adam’s thigh. “Just until the others sort themselves out.”

“That’s what Monster said.” Adam brushed his fingers lightly through Tommy’s hair before gripping the book firmly once more. Maybe Tommy would get some rest. And it felt right, Tommy’s weight pressing in against Adam’s leg, one shoulder digging into his hip.

_________________________________________________________

Clicking keys was the only sound that filled the room. Every so often, Leila’s fingers would pause and Eber could practically see her frown, her brow furrow as she pondered something. Then the click of keys would start up again. A few ration packs were tucked away neatly into a corner with a small empty stack of hydra-packs. The box sitting between the two of them was almost half full.

They had been pulled from work, pending the results of the investigation. That had smarted Leila, but Eber knew enough to bite his tongue. They literally had no idea of what happened to their boys, simple as that, but official results were the only thing Cowell would look at. Not their nearly twenty years of dedicated work.

He slouched back in the seat and rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes. A few days ago, he and Leila had finished going over their backed-up copies of the Adam program. It wasn’t the latest one that had vanished, but everything had been fine. Isolating the time period when the program went wonky wasn’t the easiest feat, but it had happened about three weeks ago.

Now, they were picking over every single object that the Adam program had interacted with, in the hopes of finding the original source of infection.

Truth be told, Eber felt like his eyes were burning in their sockets.

“Hey,” there was a creak of a turning chair and then Leila’s hand sliding over his shoulder to gently squeeze the back his neck. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Eber reached around and clasped her hand in his. “What about you?”

“Same old.” Leila said with a crooked smile and shrug.

Any other time, Eber would have been fine with that answer. But Leila had been pushing herself more and more. There had been that one morning where he’d woken up to find that she had been in VR over half the night. As soon as she was safely out, he’d put a high-level password on the access account and kept a close eye on her, but that didn’t keep her from working late at their consoles.

She had remotely downloaded practically every single file on hand from their office. He was glad she did because a few days later they had found themselves locked out. He was finishing up with the objects and she had gotten started on the personnel files. They weren’t leaving anything to chance. Leila squeezed the back of his neck a couple more times.

“Want to see something?”

“I’ll bite. What is it? Some new program on state broadcasting?”

“No, nothing on holocast,” she sat back down, pulling him over in small tugs. “It’s this.”

Eber looked at the screen. Right there, across the fronts of their personnel files was a large red block with white letters spelling out,’Restricted – LevelA567 Clearance Required. Please Enter Password.’ He stared at it for a long moment, trying to figure out why their own personnel file was restricted. This wasn’t good, whatever was happening.

“Have you tried to pull up our data files?”

Leila shook her head, even as her fingers started typing once more. The same screen popped up. He stared at the monitor, a sinking feeling in his gut. For the first time in ages, he looked at the little black box sitting in a wall niche on the other side of the room. Leila looked in the same direction as him.

“We’re good enough, we can crack this,” Leila said. “But it’s classified level ‘s’ so–”

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of _when_ they find you.” Eber rubbed at his chin taking a deep breath as he stared at the screen, the letter designations sticking out like a sore thumb. “What the hell is applied biometrics doing with our files?”

Leila made a vague sound before she muttered, “Let’s see what I have saved for our personnel and data files. Maybe there’s something we missed.”

Not a word was said as Leila brought up the search function and typed in specific terms. It took less than ten seconds for the processors to do their job. Eber read over Leila’s shoulder and felt even more confused.

“When did we sign up for an applied biometrics program?” he frowned and squinted. “Project Naise?”

“It’s not ringing a bell. But look at the date,” Leila jabbed a finger at a single line of numbers. “That’s only a week before Adam went live.”

“Cowell came to our office a few days before with some stuff for us to sign,” Eber rubbed at his forehead. “It was so hectic those last days before we got him up.”

“Any bet he sneaked the waivers for this project in.”

The expression on Leila’s face tightened and he could see that something else was added to her anger. He rubbed at her shoulder, squeezing every so often. She let loose an explosive sigh and rubbed at her temples.

“What the fuck does biometrics even do?” she asked.

“Damned if I know. But those tanks they delivered… wasn’t their code on the bottom of the work order I signed off on?”

“Ah,” Leila fell silent as she typed. After the ‘ding’ of the search running, “Yes. Departmental code BMA. Aren’t they the ones who deal with androids?”

“No, I think that’s the robotics department,” Eber shook his head and gave a dry laugh. “Fine pair we make. Brilliant programmers and we can’t even name what that department does.”

For the first time since this entire nightmare started, Leila laughed. She blinked, stared at Eber for a few seconds before she broke down laughing. It was genuine at first, truly amused. But then it started turning hiccupy and then she was blinking rapidly. Eber swivelled her chair so she was facing him and pulled her into a tight hug.

She hugged him back, not letting go,and Eber was trying very hard to just not crack as well. It was easier to focus on the problem and try to solve it. Working towards a solution meant he could ignore, temporarily at least, the deep aching worry eating away inside. He blinked rapidly and took a deep, steadying breath. Focus on the problem.

Leila shifted, moving in closer to him. “Eber, the statistcs on us finding them again –”

“We’ll find them again.” Eber cut her off.

They sat there for a moment, holding one another. Hearing her say those words made his heart lurch painfully in his chest. At this point, he had some vague notion of what the statistics were like. But then again, the statistical data on Adam and Neil simply vanishing like that would have had such astronomical odds that no one in their sane mind would bet on it. He drew back a bit and cradled her face in his hands. She sniffled a bit, but that determined look was in her eye again. He felt wounded and bleeding on the inside as he leaned in and kissed her softly.

“I know it sounds crazy and stupid, given the facts, but we’ll find them.”

She inhaled deeply, steadying herself. Her hands came up, fingers curling around his wrists gently. “How are you doing with those objects? Do you need a hand?”

Eber glanced back at his console to find the cursor still blinking on the input field. It would be there tomorrow and they weren’t going anywhere. He shook his head.

“I’ll set up an intensive search program to run through the night. We are going to do something most sane people would have done ages ago.”

“And that is?”

“We’re going to leave this workroom and go upstairs. Because as much as I want our boys back,” Eber wasn’t able to keep his voice from cracking a bit. “I feel like I’m losing you to this. I miss you, Leila.”

A few emotions flickered over her face. Confusion, anger and then realisation. “I’ve been a little… intense.”

“Intense?” Eber laughed now and it sounded a bit shaky. “I thought you were going to claw up that cop for not doing much of anything really,”

“Eber,” she started.

But he continued on, words just coming now. “And we’ve been going non-stop since this started. We’re both running on empty and what good is that because who knows when that cop will come back with questions and –”

Leila ended his nascent ramble with a kiss. Eber pulled her in closer, trying to keep his crumbling composure. Shit, now it felt like he _was_ falling apart. But she pulled back after a moment, resting their foreheads together.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she petted his shoulders before she buried her fingers in his hair, gently massaging his scalp. “I’m sorry, honey.”

All Eber could do for a few minutes was take a few shaky breaths. When a few minutes had passed, she dropped her hands to the nape of his neck.

“C’mon. You’ll get that intensive search set up faster with another set of fingers.”

All he did was nod his head before tugging her over to his plasma console. Another keyboard popped up for Leila and before long, the search was set up and started. He felt stiff getting up from the chair and wondered how Leila made it look so easy, like she hadn’t been sitting for nearly ten hours straight. She came over to him, sliding an arm around his waist.

“So, just the two of us tonight,” she gave him a small smile. “Truth be told, I’ve missed you too.”

A smile came to Eber’s face as he leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly. She hugged him for a moment before they started from the basement. For one of the few times in his life, Eber had never been happier to leave their workroom.

_________________________________________________________

Truth be told, Kris wished he wasn’t sitting on this couch. He wished the past three weeks hadn’t happened. He almost wished he and Katy were back at that stage of blissful ignorance, where they were doing their best. They’d work and then spend some of their evenings trying to gather evidence.

Since that night they had broken into the compound at Cowell Industries, everything was feeling upside down.

Though he had to admit he’d done more in these three weeks than he’d ever have dared do if it had still been just him and Katy.

He’d broken in, infiltrated, hell, he even shot someone… That one still tore him up inside. He hadn’t meant to shoot them in the face, but looking back on it, the person surely would have reported them.

And everything so far had led to this.

Everyone was in the main room and the silence was almost oppressive. Neil was standing on the opposite side of the crate in front of the couch. Kris didn’t even really want to see Neil, much less have to talk to him. Katy had sat down on the couch and Kris sat down right beside her, glowering at Neil the entire time. Adam had seated himself beside Kris and Tommy had come to stand at the end of the couch, beside the black haired man.

Somehow, Kris wasn’t surprised.

Monte had taken one look at Kris and gone to stand beside Neil, as if he was waiting for Kris to launch himself at the man once more. Monster simply looked around at them all for a few moments.

Kris wanted this done and overwith. It was probably some ridiculous hour of the morning, if his internal clock was anything to go by, and his own bruises were throbbing. He did take grim satisfaction in seeing that Neil looked like hell too.

“Okay, so now that everyone’s cooled off from last night,” he shot a pointed look at Kris, “Today’s the day. I’m going to start for the border. I don’t have time for arguments or trying to convince anyone. Who is in?”

Monster looked around and for a few minutes, silence filled the room. Everyone was trying to not look at anyone else. Then the silence was broken.

“Us.” Adam said softly, while Tommy nodded his head.

Kris looked over at Katy, still feeling conflicted. He didn’t want to leave her but at the same time staying here… he was obviously courting danger. They all were. And if Tommy’s insinuation was any indication, he should do he best to stay away from jail.

“Me too.” He said after a few minutes, looking away from Katy when she didn’t turn his way.

Another few minutes of silence and then from Neil, “I’m staying.”

Monte shook his head. “And I can’t leave. I’m staying.”

He tried, he tried not to, but Kris turned to look at Katy again. If only he could convince her. There was a sombre, pensive look on her face and then she opened her mouth, “I’m staying as well.”

Kris closed his eyes, head bowing. Nothing had changed since last night then. Even their whispered argument had done little to change her mind. He felt a bit numb inside, as though if he let himself feel anything the sheer force of it might overwhelm him, make him try and convince Katy to come with him to the North. It felt like he was letting something slip through his fingers, letting it fall, only he couldn’t stop it from happening.

“Alright. Pack up whatever you need to. I’ll take you three back up and then come back for the rest of you. Once we’re gone, this place will be sealed shut for a year. Won’t be able to get back into it, at all.”

There were murmurs at that and Kris felt the couch spring up as Adam rose. He and Tommy were talking quietly and Kris knew he should get moving too. But he could only just sit there, head bowed. As if he could stay frozen in time like this, and nothing else would happen.

The couch dipped beside him and then there was a hand sliding up his arm and over his shoulders. “Kris? Talk to me, please?”

“Katy, just…” Kris finally lifted his head and turned to face her. “Please, for the love of God, please.”

Begging was something he figured he would never resort to, but here he was doing just that. Then again, he’d never thought he’d have to beg Katy. Katy gave him a smile as she cupped his face.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be with Monte and Neil. Monte knows the ropes and with Neil,” she paused before she said firmly. “I really do think we stand a better chance with Neil.”

Kris just sighed heavily at that. There was no disputing that. Neil knew so much about the corporations, what linked into what, who ran what… it was truly astouding that he had retained so much so clearly. But to linger where he could be captured and then have who knew what done to him… he was with Adam on this one for cutting and running.

“I know you’re worried,” Katy rubbed at his shoulders. “I’ll be fine. If we still can’t do anything after awhile, I’ll come to the North. But for now, this is something I have to do, Kris. There are things I can still do here. You know that, you know me. But I’ll find you and we can be together.

For a few seconds, all Kris could do was look at her. Surely she didn’t know… but when that slow smile came to her face, he realised she knew. And his heart broke all the more for it. He felt like he should do something, his hands practically itched to. But to then lose her so soon…

“Katy…” Kris started, but words failed yet again.

She leaned in, pressing a kiss against the corner of his mouth. “We’ll be fine, you’ll see. This is just… I have to do this, Kris. Just like you think doing this from the North is more effective.”

Kris stared at her as she drew back, and he broke. He reached forward and pulled her in against him, kissing her fiercely. This could very well be one of the last times he saw her in who knew how long. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she would eventually wind up in the North. But this, here and now, felt like he was losing her, quite possibly forever.

He didn’t care what the others thought, and was dimly aware that someone was probably staring. All he cared about right this moment was the comforting weight of Katy’ body against his, her mouth opening against his and the way her arms wrapped around his neck as she arched into him. His hands went down to her waist and pulled her in tighter. He kissed her like he needed her very breath to breathe and live.

“Kris, Kris,” Katy murmured against mouth, her voice sounding sad as well. “Please don’t do this now. Kris, I - …You… Please. Don’t.”

Her hands moved up, fingers twining in his hair and he broke the kiss. He dropped his head, resting his forehead against her clavice, eyes squeezed tightly shut. He felt her chin on the back of his head and realised she bent over him. It was as if she could keep him from flying apart into a million little pieces from the sheer force of her will alone.

But Kris could believe her when she said she would eventually come and find him. Because she was stubborn that way. Stubborn enough to see the job done, and to not let anything stop her. He lifted his head up to her neck and hugged her tightly.

“You come find me, okay?” he whispered into her ear. “Or if you can’t, let me know and I’ll find you. Our code. I’ll find you.”

“Conway and Lexie can always find each other.” Katy gave him a smile that looked shaky and Kris knew her heart was breaking as much as his. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “We better go pack.”

Kris nodded his head and they got up from the couch. Everyone else in the room looked a little too intent on going through things and shoving them into their packs. He took Katy’s hand and gave it a squeeze as they headed to grab their things. Kris had finished putting the last standard issue shirt in his pack when the soft clump of boots made him look back.

“Katy?” Monster’s voice was quiet. When she responded with a soft, “Hm” he continued with, “I need to know, do you have a fail safe device?”

“Fail safe?” She folded a pair of pants and tucked them away before she zipped the bag shut. “Um, I’m not too sure what that is, so I’m going to guess, no, I don’t.”

Monster motioned with his head and Katy followed. Kris watched as they walked over to where Neil and Monte were and a rapidfire discussion happened. There was a serious look on Katy’s face followed by surprise and her shaking her head. Then Monte said a few things, with Monster nodding a few times, probably in agreement.

Kris closed his bag and went back over to the couch, trying to not stare so obviously at them. After a few more minutes of discussion, they moved. When Kris saw they were heading for the door, he wasn’t too sure if his feet would be steady enough to keep him standing. Their feet whispered against the ground for a few seconds before coming to a stop. There was the soft beep of numbers being punched in followed by a final long beep. There was a soft ‘whooshing’ sound and Kris knew the door had been opened. He glanced around to find Tommy and Adam over by the door now as well.

Adam and Neil were just staring intently at one another and it weirded Kris out a bit. They’d done the same thing for awhileafter they’d awoken up. That time they hadn’t been facing one another. But now, with that intense look and what could be called a semi-vacant stare… there was something a bit off-putting about it, and something that also looked oddly familiar. But then they moved, the vacant expressions vanishing, and he looked away, looked right at Katy.

She was giving him a small smile and before he even knew it he was standing up and heading over. Neil glanced his way before clapping Adam on the shoulder and slipping past Monte and Monster to the open door. Whatever Tommy and Monte had to say had been short, since Monte slipped out next, followed by Monster. As he left Monster shot Kris a warning look.

Kris just nodded his head in response. He wouldn’t be keeping Katy too long. He glanced back to find that Adam and Tommy were making their way to the sleeping cubicles. He waited until they were inside and the door slid shut before he turned to her. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Just what could he say now, anyhow? That they both had wasted too much time? That they should –

“We’re both idiots, I know.” She smiled at him before she hugged him tightly. “Stay safe, okay?”

“You too.” He hugged back just as hard, whispering in her ear. “If Monte says don’t do something, please don’t do your own thing. Promise?”

“Promise.” Katy whispered.

He closed his eyes and squeezed a bit tighter in relief. They held on for a minute longer before Katy drew back. Kris leaned forward and pressed a light kiss against her lips. She kissed him back before pulling away and slipping out the door. It slowly closed after her and Kris still couldn’t shake the feeling that he should have pushed harder for her to come with him. Should have done something that would have convinced her to stay. Walking back over to the couch, he sat down heavily. The couch dipped beside him a few minutes later and Kris glanced over, expecting to see Adam.

Seeing Tommy sitting there threw him for a loop. Adam was coming over, carrying their packs. An indecisive look settled on Tommy’s face for a moment before he finally spoke.

“If anyone’s gonna keep their word on some crazy-ass promise like that, it’s her,” Tommy nodded his head vaguely. “You’ll see her again, don’t worry.”

Kris just snorted and gave a half-hearted shrug. “I just don’t get it… before Neil was all for leaving and now he changes his mind?”

“Twelve years as a program designed to analyse. All the flaws, all the redundancies in the corporations, in the shell of a government that’s left,” Adam came over now, placing the packs on the floor. “He’s so use to analysing that it took him some time to realise that he can physically effect some change. It’s one thing to say it and quite another thing to do it. He wants to do it now.”

An odd look flittered across Adam’s face for a moment as he sat down beside Kris in the other free spot. A glance over at Tommy showed a thoughtful look on the other’s face as well. After a moment, he nudged them both.

“You know what I hear? In the North, they have real food. Not this genetically grown or modified stuff. I want to try a real apple for once.” Kris looked over at Tommy and then Adam. “What about you guys?”

There was a long silence and then Adam said softly, “I want to see a blue sky. Just a blue vastness over my head instead of the murk high above that makes everything yellowish.”

“Clouds too?” Kris prodded.

“That’d be nice.” Adam glanced at him, a small grin on his face. “Maybe it’d rain…”

Kris smiled and at the same time knew he had to keep focusing on this before he did something stupid. Like jump up running and screaming after Katy, grab hold of her and make sure she stayed with him. He turned to Tommy. “You?”

“Get this thing,” He tapped at his cybernetic link. “Out of my head for good.”

“What about your port?”

The silence from Tommy grew bit chilly but he still answered. “I doubt it could be removed. I tried once and it was botched. I was just barely able to get it fixed.”

There was more Kris wanted to say and ask, but the soft whooshing sound came and Monster stepped back into the room. The conversation died away as everyone got up, shouldering their packs. They silently left the room and Monster pulled the thick door shut before he keyed in a code. There was a loud beep and then a gentle hiss.

“We’re stowing away in a shipment to a major arms depot in Querque. We can determine the quickest way to get to the North en route. That alright?”

There were murmurs of assent and Kris couldn’t help but ask, “We don’t need fail safes?”

A vaguely surprised look came to Tommy’s face and Adam looked confused. Monster shook his head.

“No. My success rate for getting people over the border is one hundred percent. However, I don’t take many people in one go, which helps the rate. If you’d feel more comfortable with the fail safe –”

“He doesn’t need it. Adam doesn’t need it.” Tommy interrupted.

“I can decide that for myself.” Kris said.

Tommy gave a dry laugh. “So you’re telling me that you’re willing to have a small capsule of botulimix implanted subdermally at the base of your port?”

“Botulimix?” Kris paled at that. And then he took in Tommy’s expression. “You have it. Monte has it.”

“We’ve been hackers for a decade. There are things we know that we have to guarantee can’t fall into the hands of the police and corporations. But Monster is right. His success rate is perfect. Every rumour I’ve heard says nothing less. Now, are we going to keep talking or get going?”

Adam was giving Tommy an odd look. Tommy simply arched an eyebrow in silent question.

“When we get to the North,” Adam said at the look. “You’ll get the botulimix removed. And maybe they have procedures for the other…” He gave an optimistic smile in the face of Tommy’s darkening expression.

“But what if –” Kris began.

“Tell you what: I’ll shoot you myself.” Tommy offered, turning back to him with a trace of annoyance in his voice. “It’ll be less painful that way.”

Kris scowled at him. “You’re just…”

“A bucketful of sunshine?” Tommy pressed, sending a peevish look at Adam and Kris.

That was not the word Kris had in mind. But this was something he did not want to deal with right now. “Never mind. Let’s get going.”

Monster nodded his head and started walking. Kris fell in step behind him. From behind, he could hear Adam murmuring to Tommy, trying to figure out why he’d suddenly become so pissy. Truth be told, Kris couldn’t wait to leave this place behind him.

_________________________________________________________

“Shit, are you still here?”

Cam jerked up from her desk, hair matted down against her face. Damn it, she’d fallen asleep at her desk again. She blinked slowly before rubbing at her eyes and yawning widely. Last thing she knew, she’d been doing an in-depth review of files, looking for any sort of link.

Not that she got far very on most fronts. The files on Taylor and the others showed nothing untowards, but they were still keeping in contact fairly frequently. Leila and Eber’s files struck her as odd, because why would two programmers have their personnel and data files marked with such a high security clearance level? Anything levelled class ‘S’ she needed to be part of the secret service branch of the police force to access.

And they weren’t recruiting anytime soon.

She groaned and stared blearily at the person standing in front of her. Magda. Of course. She made a hand motion as she yawned again. An annoyed look crossed Magda’s face. Cam felt a flash of irritation. Getting anything but information from Magda wasn’t going to fly today. She had a job to do and about five people practically ready to jack into her for answers. She needed to have something to tell them.

“What?” the word came out a bit more curtly than she intended.

“Officer Egberts. You know, the police officer from the raid? He’s awake now. I was able to pull something from his memories, but it’s going to take some time to clean up. The initial picture looks dark and –”

“He’s up?” Cam got up from her seat, wondering where her jacket was.

“And conscious, but still out of it. They’re still regenerating his skin,” Magda paused, looking a bit hesitant before she continued, “Don’t you think you’re getting a bit obsessed over this case?”

Cam levelled a long look at Magda before she said, “Three weeks ago, two androids were stolen and not a single clue was left at the scene. And nearly a week after the androids disappeared, a false raid was carried out on some bad intel, with some suspicious activity occurring within the police force itself. I don’t know what the hell is going on, and I’ve got Simon Fuller himself ready to rip my port and cybernetic out for answers. Two suspects claim to be innocent, probably are, but have a class ‘S’ security clearance on their files. Nothing is making sense, but something is going on and I want some fucking answers _now_. Forgive me if I have become a bit obsessive. It’s not like my ass is on the line here or anything.”

Magda remained silent as Cam growled in exasperation when she saw her jacket on the back of the chair. She shrugged it on and glanced at Magda.

“Anything else?” she grunted, zipping up the front.

“Yeah, don’t let the door hit your cranky ass on the way out,” Magda turned and walked away. “See if I help you again, be a bitch and bite my head off why don’t you…”

Cam rubbed at her brow, wondering just how much longer she could keep on it like this. There were a few things that weren’t matching up here. Like the sheer number of resources now being diverted to find the androids. Well, as of this week, since the wheels of bureaucracy ran so slow, it had Cam practically chewing on her computer console.

Her sleek HSV sat in its parking spot by the entrance doors. She got in and the vehicle hummed to life. For a moment, she considered driving but turned on the auto-pilot function. The address was punched in and the car pulled out smoothly before starting along. This whole case was a headache that she wished would go away.

The one and only lead by the name of Katy O’Connell was proving so elusive, Cam had started to wonder if she was real. There was a data and a personnel file, indicating that she worked in repairing small computer problems. Nothing that would have required a programmer, but the more technical things, like cooling units and plasma float screens. But she simply hadn’t reported for work one day. That had been just over three weeks ago.

Not a single blip of anything turned up on the woman after her initial identification.

The only thing of note was that someone else from Katy’s repair department was absent as well. Someone by the name of Kris Allen. From what she could tell, they occasionally had a few work rotations and spent some time together, but infrequently. There was nothing else linking these two individuals other than working over at Aris Corp. Or at least that was what she could gather without Allen’s file, which she couldn’t locate without further data.

She shook herself from her thoughts with a ‘tch’ and looked out the window. Too many unknowns were coming together in some strange ways that she couldn’t link. Or rather, she couldn’t now, but more than likely could if she had the right security clearance. The more she tried digging, the more she was convinced that it had to do with the two missing androids. It had nothing to do with wiping out a few computers or even top selling programs.

The vehicle slowing down jolted her out of her thoughts and made her look around.She was already at the hospital. They didn’t call them high-speed vehicles for no reason at all. When it pulled up into a parking spot, she sat there for a few minutes before she reached over into the small storage compartment. After a moment of hesitation, the Insta-Link box and jacks were in her hand. They were stuffed into her pocket and she headed inside the building.

The door slid open smoothly and the distinct scent of anti-septic cleaner and pine greeted her. She checked in at the med-aide station and after a brief conversation she was escorted to the officer’s room by a rather displeased young man. Cam couldn’t fault him for doing his job but she had an investigaion to get rolling. If she didn’t have something more concrete by the end of the week, she knew she was going to get pulled off the case and more than likely demoted. That meant those iritating rote cases or, worse, being transferred to a dead-end district or even a prison district. No way in hell was she going back that direction.

“Egberts is resting now. He’s inbetween regeneration treatments,” themed-aide paused for a moment. “I’m going to be right outside the door, if he rings for anything. I know you’ll insist on privacy but the second he presses that button –”

“Got it. I won’t take too much of his time. Well, hopefully.”

The aide nodded and then opened the door for her. Cam stepped into a deceptively bright, cheery room. Sunlight was coming in through the slats built into the window and on the bedside table sat a vase of flowers. She was surprised to catch a whiff of fragrance that held no hint of silicone. Egberts was propped up on some pillows and half of his face seemed fine, while the rest was covered in some thick bandages.

“Real flowers. Someone cares.”

“Detective Grey,” Egberts tried to push himself up. “It’s an –”

Camilla held up a hand. She pulled a chair over and sat down beside the bed. Egberts eyes never left her, and held more than a hint of awe. There was full on hero worship in there. On the upside, this would definitely make her job easier. But at the same time, it made her uneasy. Glorifying her for something that had resulted in the deaths of people… she’d never be comfortable with it.

“I understand you were attacked by an anarchist? During the failed raid?”

“Yeah. Karasek and Hallet weren’t replying before they answered they were maintaining radio silence. So I thought they might need some back up. The raid chief approved it.” Egberts winced. “Sorry. Talking’s not so easy. Scabs pull and crack.”

As if on cue, something seeped out against the bandage, pale yellow with a tint of red. Egberts patted at the bandage gingerly before he swore and shook his head. Cam really didn’t want to make him talk more than necessary so she said,

“I have an Insta-Link.”

Egberts turned to look at her. There was a cautious light in his eyes and Cam didn’t blame him one bit. It was one thing to have a program on a machine pick through ones memories. Machines were impersonal, for the most part. But linking up with another person… not everyone chose that route. Hell, most people avoided it when they could. It was far too intimate an act. But Egberts took one look at his dampened fingertips and nodded his head. His blind trust in her unnerved her more than she cared to think about.  
The Insta-Link looked innocent enough with a connection node at either end. The two double-ended jacks came out of her pocket next and she quietly went through setting it all up. She jacked herself in first, the familiar blue grid appearing in her field of vision before the white log-in screen appeared. She quickly punched in her identification before a simple screen popped up.

‘ _Auto-Run Mnemonic Trace? Y/N_ ’

After picking ‘yes’ the next command prompt appeared, leaving her feeling that churning sensation in her lower gut.

‘ _Please jack in Mnemonic Trace subject._ ’

The white log-in screen melted away from the center, forming a window she could see out of. With the other double-ended jack in hand, Cam leaned forward carefully. Egberts was already on his side with his head bowed forward, exposing his port. Even though she’d seen a port a million times, had one herself, she couldn’t help but feel repulsed by it. There was something about seeing that metal-covered hole that made her skin crawl. But she fought back the reaction as she slid the jack in and turned it, locking it into place.

For a moment there was nothing and then the small window was filled back in. There were a few prompts asking for the date and time, if possible. Cam entered all the data she knew and when the final input disappeared there was nothing for a few moments and then,

‘ _Mnemonic Trace activating in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…_ ”

The white screen was replaced suddenly by a dark warehouse filled with shadows and gently billowing cloth from covered objects. There was the peculiar scent of machinery and oil and fuck, Cam forgot how damned _immersive_ these things were. If she wasn’t trained to know better… A faint rustling sound came from the other side of something and Egberts paused, his hand going to his holstered sidearm. But after a moment, he left it there and continued walking. A scuffing sound came now, of something that was moving away. The thought processes were lost to her, but when Egberts bent down to check under the first piece of machinery, it all clicked into place.

It didn’t stop her from watching to confirm. One by one Egberts checked underneath the machines. Row after row went by before he got to a machine halfway up the last row. He bent down, peering into the murky dark and leaning forward, as if trying to make out something.

The distinct whine of a plasma weapon charging came and before Egberts could even draw back, there was a burst of bluish light. The shot burned bright for a moment as it launched and then everything changed into blinding light and pain.

‘Freeze.’ Cam would have to do this next part carefully. Slowing down a memory replay was something tackled only by machines. But she didn’t have the time to go through all that paperwork or wait for Egberts to recover. With the first few seconds before the shot landed, she would have a clear view of the person who shot Egberts full on in the face. That was all she needed.

‘Play back last five seconds at one sixteenth original speed.’

A whirring sound faintly reached her ears and then the playback started. Egberts was bending down, hand slowly lifting up the cover. The darkness greeted her sight for a few minutes and then the long drawn out sound off the plasma whine came.

It was odd, seeing plasma energy coalesce into a bright orb. Minute particles streamed to a single location in front of the barrel, even in this slowed down state, gathering rapidly. And when the orb was fired, she could see the small soundwave from the sonic impact of the plasma being projected forward. The orb moved slowly through the air, and Cam waited, waited for the moment before she barked out,

‘Freeze frame.’

The image stopped accordingly and there, looking panicked and utterly terrifed was the face of Kris Allen, illuminated by the momentary burst of plasma.

‘Copy freeze frame to cybernetic link number 462018475, authorization CG-LAMD-A01-7T8R.’

For a moment, nothing happened and then the image of Kris Allen’s face flickered. The main image shrunk and the image left behind was highlighted and vanished away. She couldn’t disconnect from the Insta-Link fast enough. It took her a moment to make sure the image was safely stored on her cybernetic. She could run the image though a facial recognition program back at the station, on a computer with a faster processor. She shut down the program and disconnected Egberts from the box first and then herself. The muscles at the nape of her neck were tightening up and she was immensely glad she didn’t have to drive back to the station.

“Got what you need?” Egberts rolled back over, a wince visible on half of his face.

“Yes, thank you,” Cam tucked the box back into her pocket. “I –”

“Good,” an intent look came to Egberts visible eye as his brow furrowed. “Get the bastard who did this to me.”

Cam just nodded as she spotted the spray bottle of disinfectant. She grabbed it and sprayed down the jacks before coiling them back up and slipping them into her other pocket. Egberts just nodded his head as he settled back against the pillow.

“My neck is killing me something fierce, so you’d better hightail it from here before I call for the med-aide.”

She knew when she was being kicked out. Cam nodded her head and silently headed for the door. As she slipped out, she caught the med-aide’s eye. She pressed a finger to her lips before mouthing the word, ‘Sleeping.’ Sure it was an outright lie, but this med-aide was fairly gung-ho and Cam need to get out of here, not be subjected to a lecture.

Her brisk pace got her back out to the HSV in minimal time and the auto-pilot function got her back to the station even quicker. While she didn’t really want to, she took a standard issue painkiller for her neck. But when she got out of the car, she had to admit, it was a hell of a lot better than trying to tough out the pain. She sat down at her desk, downloaded the image from her cybernetic and got herself a cup of synthetic coffee while the program ran.

She didn’t even get halfway through the plastic cup before the program finished. Her cup was forgotten as she stared at the screen.

“File not found?” Cam scowled as she stared at the display. “How do you not have a file on Kris Allen. “

Cracking her knuckles, she brought up the keypad and started typing. After ten minutes, and a variety of search terms, she still had nothing. She tapped her fingers for a moment in frustration before she typed in Katy O’Connell. Starting back at the source was not her idea of being productive. The program ran and a few minutes later the soft chime yielded…

“What the hell?” Cam swore. “Her file was here. I saw it, I fucking saw it.”

The simple words of ‘File not found’ was frustrating. After a moment, Cam was back to typing. If a local search wasn’t turning up anything, then she would have to expand her search. And she would hedge her damned bets as well.

The national search level took almost four hours, and more cups of synthetic coffee than she cared to count. But when the soft chime went off, she found herself looking at two files. She copied them to her computer and a dialogue box popped up.

“Update info… ugh, no.”

She typed and the box disappeared and she quickly brought up the information. There was something to be said for the ease with which files could be shared where needed.

When she opened Kris’s file, she ran the image from her cybernetic with the facial recognition software. She was going to do this one by the book and leave no doubt. As the program ran she trawled through the files.

A few seconds later, she had her confirmation that the shooter of Officer Egberts was indeed Kris Allen. It was only the start. He was known to sometimes associate with Katy O’Connell and had a list of charges as well, though, nothing as long as Katy’s and his file bore the tag, ‘pending further investigation’.

For a moment, she sat at her computer console, staring at the information on the plasma screen in front of her. How did a man who was a simple repair tech go from his regular job to hiding out under a machine, in standard police issue clothing, and shooting an officer in the face? It more than likely had something to do with whatever they were up to.

It was just figuring out what and where. After a moment, she punched in a new set of parameters into the facial regonition program. Cross-reference Kris Allen’s face against any and everything for the past month. If there was nothing in that time frame, then she was a damned idiot for missing the obvious.

She managed to finish off her coffee and get halfway through another one when the program finished running. It had only one other match. It was a security feed from one of the cameras at the automated shipping depot at the border of Los Angeles. All that the camera had was a partial view, but the computer had calculated the probabilty of it being Kris Allen at ninety percent.

“Pretty damned good odds…” she murmured as she rubbed at her lips.

Her fingers tapped against the sleek console for a moment before she sat up. The shipping manifestos were the first thing she brought up. Almost immediately, she had her answer. Nearly all the shipments leaving the depot were of heavy machinery. But one, the sole one, that stood out was a shipment of livestock to the Pastche Agricultural Depot. Anything carrying live animals was required to be open air or in a slatted container.

It would be perfect for someone to stow away in.

She gulped down the rest of her coffee and quickly typed up a brief report before sending it off to the department chief. There was no way in hell she was waiting for clearance on this. If there were anarchists hiding out in Pastche, then every second counted.

She was back in her HSV and heading for the hyperway faster than anyone could say ‘grav-cycle.’ Her fingers clucthed the steering wheel and she felt a thrill run through her… the sheer rush that filled her as she started out on a fresh trail as puzzle pieces started to fit together.

It almost made up for all the other things she tried to not think about.

_________________________________________________________

The gentle vibration of the transport was soothing and, combined with the sound of the air recycler, it was no wonder that Adam was out like a light. When Tommy realised he’d nodded off, he couldn’t bring himself to wake him up. They’d been going non-stop since they’d left Pastche and none of them had really been able or willing to rest. After reaching Querque they’d sneaked onto another transport. They were almost to their new destination, Arile.

He didn’t know if Monster would push them futher or if they could stop and take a breather. Tommy was looking forward to a decent night’ sleep, just straight through and no keeping a gun close at hand. But Adam, he just nodded his head and did as asked. Tommy could pretty much see him stretching to the point of breaking again. The man didn’t know how to destress, just built everything up until Tommy got fed up enough to corner him on it. Now that Adam was sleeping, it was a good thing in his mind.

As the minutes passed, Tommy just couldn’t shake the sense that this all seemed crazy when they could have made a run for the border just north of Los Angeles. But they had struck out east from what he could tell.

It wasn’t as if he could ask Monster about it either. When they had snuck into these containers, Monster dumped an air recycler in his hands and directed them to one container while he hustled Kris to the other one.

Tommy had no doubt that Monster decided that Kris needed talking to. It was starting to look like he’d be the biggest liability on this entire –

A discontent sound from Adam made him look down. There was a frown on his face and his eyes opened a few seconds later. Tommy bit back a curse, seeing the slight circles under Adam’s eyes. He brushed back Adam’s hair from his forehead. There was a confused, wild look in Adam’s eyes but he stayed leaning against Tommy.

“You gotta sleep babyboy.” He let his hand follow the curve of Adam’s head, the short hairs along the side rasping against his hand. “You need to get –”

“They’re in Los Angeles again.” Adam murmured.

That caught Tommy by surprise. So he settled for a very simple, “What?”

Adam sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “They’re back in LA. In the Catacombs, from what I can tell.”

Tommy didn’t dare log onto his holopad to check in with Monte. These transports had a connection he could hack into,but they were notoriously hellish, tricky for him, and he didn’t have the energy for hacking past high-level encryption. He was sure Monster would be less than pleased if they were busted en route.

“And you know this how?” he finally asked. It briefly flashed through his mind that Adam had been dreaming.

An indecisive look flickered across Adam’s face as he sat up and leaned back against the container wall. For a moment, Tommy was sure he wasn’t going to talk. And then, “Neil and I, we’re linked.”

“Linked? What do you mean…” Tommy trailed off as it sunk in a few seconds later. “Shit, you two are literally linked up? Neurally?” It explained a few things, and now that Adam mentioned it, Tommy could kick himself for not guessing earlier, but… It set a gnawing worrying feeling in his stomach.

“I don’t know how precisely,” Adam shrugged and tapped his dead cybernetic lightly. “Maybe it’s through this? Neil seemed to know more about it, but we never got into it.”

Now was one of those moments that Tommy wished Monte was here. He knew more about biometrics than anyone else. Well, aside from the sick, brilliant fucks who managed to create Adam and Neil’s bodies. What he knew about that stuff was rudimentary at best. Going from what he knew, the cybernetic link and the port both tapped into the neural paths through the spine. Links between individuals were something temporary, meant to be maintained for sporadic periods of time…

“Adam, how long have you and Neil been linked?”

“Since the lab tube, I think,” Adam frowned for a moment. “No, no, since we woke up in the Catacombs.”

Nearly a month. Shit. This was not making sense to Tommy at all. “Can you talk to him now?”

“Not really. It’s mainly when I’m asleep. I think we’re too far right now for anything else.” Adam ran a hand through his hair. “Is there a ration pack around?”

“Yeah. Here. Hydra-pack too.” Tommy handed them over.

A smile came to Adam’s face as he took them. Tommy just watched as he tore the top off the box, pulled out the small spork and started eating. Maybe the link was designed to work better when they were asleep? Working through the subconscious or something like that? But it was the sheer distance that was confusing Tommy the most. They had to be at least five hundred miles from LA now. Both Adam and Neil’s cybernetics were turned off. How was a connection between them maintained?

“Hey,” Adam nudged him and held out the ration pack. “Want some?”

Tommy shook his head. “Not really hungry.” When Adam stared at him Tommy sighed. “I’m –”

Adam responded by jamming a bite of food in his mouth. Tommy sputtered for a moment before swallowing it. Better to swallow it than choke. He glared at Adam. Fuck, the man was stubborn when he got fixed on something. After they left Pastche, Adam somehow decided that Tommy wasn’t eating enough. And speaking of stubborn…

“You’re not defective you know.”

Now Adam was glaring at him. Tommy didn’t care if he had just used the subtlety of a brick. He’d knock that stupid idea out of Adam’s head if it was the last thing he did. Adam was poking at his food with a frown on his face.

“I’m resigned to the fact I guess. I mean, I thought I could be fixed but if jacking in causes me to go into a pre-stasis state then I’ll have to live with my deficiencies.”

Fucking hell, how on Earth was he supposed to get this through Adam’s thick skull? He watched Adam for a moment, eyes drawn to the bob of his throat muscles as he swallowed. Adam had been an entertainment construct originally. He remembered seeing Adam for that first time, body thrashing about and those unearthly perfect notes coming from his throat. And ever since he uploaded, all Adam had done was essentially bitch about how he wasn’t like Neil. Hell, Neil had a larger experience set to draw from, twelve years as opposed to Adam’s five. But Tommy got the implicit statement that Adam felt like he wasn’t like anyone else. He frowned slightly. Maybe that was it.

Tommy yanked the ration pack from Adam’s hand. Adam’s head snapped up and Tommy held out the hydra-pack to him.

“What are you –” Adam began.

“Shut up and drink the pack.” Tommy waggled it at him.

“I was eating.” There was pointed anger in Adam’s voice.

Tommy could play this game. He didn’t particularly want to, but he could. He knew all about aggression. “Drink the damned hydra-pack.”

Maybe it was the seething tone of anger or the glare he was giving Adam, but after a few moments Adam grabbed it, stabbed the straw in and drank. When it was empty and deflated, Tommy only said three words.

“Okay. Now, sing.”

“What?” Adam stared at him like he was insane.

“Sing. I don’t care what you sing. Sing the fucking national anthem for all I care. But sing something.”

Adam just continued to stare at him for a few more minutes before he made a dismissive sound. “The driver might hear.”

“I doubt that,” Tommy wasn’t going to let Adam get out of this. “These containers have six inch steel walls. And we have an air recycler. It’s not like we’ll run out of oxygen any time soon. I can wait.”

He picked up the spork and started eating the remains of Adam’s ration pack. He might be hungrier than he thought. The seconds ticked by and Tommy finished off the remnants of the meal. He was toying with the idea of a hydra-pack for himself when Adam inhaled, slow and deep. The first few words were soft, but it was unmistakable.

“Far away, this ship is taking me far away,” Adam didn’t glance at him as he sang, but the intensity in his voice grew slightly. “Far away from the memories of a people who care if I live or die.”

Adam tilted his head back and closed his eyes as he sang, voice easily carrying the words as a euphoric look came over his face. The notes washed over Tommy, leaving goosebumps along his skin. He felt electrified, like he was hearing someone actually sing something from their very soul for the first time. Not that prepackaged crap the corporations churned out for rich people with more money than sense, but something real.

For a few minutes the container was filled with song, and Tommy got a sense that the melody was something complex. Adam’s voice rose in some parts and then slid back down, as if it was nothing. And the long notes were easily held for their duration. When Adam finished singing, the last note sounded like it was still echoing in Tommy’s ears.

There was a different look on Adam’s face now. Something contemplative and intent. Tommy cleared his throat after a few moments, making Adam look over at him.

“Feel better?”

“Actually, I do,” there was a mild tone of surprise in Adam’s voice. “Guess I should sing more often, huh?”

Tommy nodded his head. Fuck, people could get hooked on the sound of Adam’s voice. “When you can, yeah.”

“Maybe I can do that when we get to the North? Sing for a living. Or do something else.”

“Such as?”

“Don’t know yet. I’m sure I can find something,” Adam looked at him from the corner of his eye and smiled. “What’ll you do, Tommy?”

For a moment, all Tommy could do was stare. He opened his mouth to say something and then promptly shut it. It took him a few moments to untie his tongue and answer with, “Program, I guess. I’m good at it.”

Adam made a dismissive noise. “What do you really want to do?”

“Really?” Tommy flexed his fingers. “Play.”

“Play?” Adam turned to face him. “Play what?”

“Guitar,” Tommy snorted softly. “Monte taught me. Not long after I found him, he dug one up from somewhere, I don’t have a clue. But I guess he played before and he taught me.”

“So you’ve been playing all this time?”

“When I can. Not like I have much opportunity now. But back then, the first five years when we were really keeping a low profile… as much as I could.”

“What’s it like?”

There was something a bit harder to describe. “How did you feel when you sang?”

“…Indescribable,” Adam said after a moment. “It felt right.”

Tommy couldn’t stop the smile. “It’s kinda like that. You feel… whole and complete, like you’ve got some missing limb back.”

Adam grinned now and started to say something. But then he closed his mouth, apparently thinking better of it. A slow flush crept over his face and Tommy was a bit puzzled as to what Adam could be embarrassed about. Nothing ever seemed to faze him.

“Is there a blanket in the pack? It’s a bit chilly.”

It was probably twenty something degrees in here, but Tommy didn’t question it. He simply reached for the pack and dug out the blanket. It took a few quick snaps to unfurl it and he handed it over. Adam took it, pulling it over his shoulders and draping it over his legs before he tucked the ends beneath his knees. He shivered a bit and hunched over. Tommy frowned and started to get to his feet.

“Are you really that cold? I can –”

“No no, you don’t have to warm me up like last time.”

Adam was bright red now and had practically tripped over those words. Tommy watched him for a moment before he shrugged and settled back down. Adam sat there, hunched over and staring fixedly at the empty ration pack. After a few moments, Tommy dug out the blanket from the other pack and got up. Adam watched him as he came over and draped it over Adam’s head.

A small smile came to Adam’s face as Tommy sat back down. And then he asked, “Do you think Kris is okay?”

“I’d like to think so,” Tommy chewed on his lip for a bit. “I think he’s been pushed too far way too fast.”

“What do you mean?” Adam snaked a hand out to pull the other blanket over his head in tighter.

“Back before we left for Pastche, when we made that run on the police depot, he shot a cop in the face so we could get away.”

Adam’s eyes went wide. “Kris did?”

Tommy nodded his head. “I’m pretty sure that was entirely accidental. The face part, not the shooting. But I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about it. It sort of fell to the side. And then Katy dumping that news on him. Seemed to take him by complete surprise… Kris is hanging on by shreds. Katy and him are newer to this anarchist business than this adventure lets on. He’s not used to so much chaos.”

Those words hung quietly in the air. Adam made a worried sound and Tommy stretched a leg out to nudge him with a foot.

“Not much we can do now. Wait until we get to Arile. That’s where Monster will want to probably take a break.”

“… I want to help him, but I’m not sure how to.”

“Yet another part of the human condition,” Tommy gave a wry grin. “Like I said, we all muddle on through. And sometimes we lean on one another and try to figure it all out.”

“Like Kris and Katy?”

“Sometimes like that.”

A thoughtful look came to Adam’s face and silence fell. Then Adam looked at him, staring for a few minutes before saying, “You need to sleep too.”

Tommy shrugged. “I can sleep when we get to Arile. That’s only another two hours from now.”

“You didn’t sleep when we left Pastche. And you barely did on the way to Querque.”

“I’ll be fine,” Tommy had been doing an exemplary job of ignoring his exhaustion until Adam mentioned it. Now it was creeping back in. He was starting to suspect Adam had the power of suggestion on his side. “Really.”

Adam didn’t seem satisfied. He took the extra blanket off from his head and moved in closer. The blanket was warm from his body heat as it settled over him and Tommy couldn’t stifle a yawn. Shit, there was an intent look on Adam’s face now and Tommy knew he wouldn’t let up. He picked up the plasma gun and handed it to Adam, handle first.

“As soon as we can, target practice. But for now, you hold it like this,” he took Adam’s right hand and wrapped it around the handle. “Use your index finger for the trigger. This little button up here,” he paused as he yawned again. “That’s the safety. Flick it up with your thumb. If anything happens –”

“Nothing will. But I’ll make sure you’re safe.” Adam said. The tone of his voice spoke of determination and something akin to sacred vows.

Tommy snorted. Adam had never fired a gun in his life. But given the serious look on his face and how he was paying attention to everything said… Tommy honestly believed him.

“I was gonna say don’t fire first. Sometimes it’s just a worker who’s not armed. You see someone in an entirely black suit though, fire first and worry about getting your ass out in one piece.”

“Our asses.” Adam corrected immediately. He paused a second then ventured. “Cops?”

“Yeah, their uniform’s solid black. They also shoot first and ask questions later,” Tommy stood up, joints popping slightly. His vision also swam a bit as exhaustion crashed full on into him. “Bad idea.”

“Sit back down,” Adam sounded anxious, hand tugging gently on the blanket around him. Tommy did just that, sinking slowly to the ground on Adam’s other side. “What are you doing anyways?”

“Freeing up your line of sight. Just in case,” Tommy settled back against the wall. “Maybe I’m more tired than I realised.”

Adam snorted at that. “Come here.”

Tommy yawned again and Adam tugged on the blanket until his head was resting against Adam’s shoulder. He vaguely thought that the wall would have been fine, but then Adam was settling the blanket he already had around them. It was just as warm and smelled faintly of ration packs, but mainly like Adam. He blinked, trying to figure out when he’d noticed what Adam smelled like and feeling as if he was teetering on the edge of sleep.

Suddenly, Adam shifted, wiggling a little, and Tommy found himself sliding down until his head was pillowed on Adam’s thigh. Hell, he just didn’t have the energy to protest. And for the first time in a long time, he felt truly comfortable and not worried. Adam’s fingers were running through his hair and he was singing something.

“Say your prayers little one, don’t forget my son to include everyone,” Adam’s voice was soft as he started the lullabye. “I tuck you in, warm within, free from sin until the sandman comes.”

Tommy slowly drifted off and the last thing he remembered was Adam’s voice crooning about dreams of war, liars and something called dragon’s fire.

_________________________________________________________

Leila walked down the stairs with her pack in hand. The entire house was silent. Everything was in place and ready to be executed. Eber was downstairs already, prepping the computers for their final run. She left her bag at the front door beside his and headed for the basement.

She paused on the stairs and took a deep breath before she stepped into the room. The pristine white and cool blue of the lab greeted her. Eber was sitting at a console, typing away, probably setting up the final protocols for the destruction of their lab.

That hadn’t been an easy decision for them to reach. There had been three solid days of arguments before they both agreed that there were some answers they both badly wanted.

Those answers required hacking into high level secure files. That type of deep security breach hacking… They would have to vanish in order to get those answers.

Making contact on the Subvert hadn’t been easy. With all of her skill, it still had taken Leila a monumental effort to connect up to the network. And even then it was a hard slog. Whoever wrote the coding for that network was a sheer genius in her mind. But she managed to get in touch with someone willing to help. There had been a ridiculous number of conditions to be met, but after discussing it with Eber they decided to go ahead. After all, they could hardly blame their hard found contact for being cautious. Two citizens asking for help to go to ground, it could easily have been a trap.

And now, in precisely two hours, their contact would be waiting for them. That would give them enough time to do what they had to and head over to the border of the neighbouring district. Leila suspected that their instructions to go into the sewers and access the Catacombs meant that they wouldn’t be crossing any district checkpoint legally.

Though, as she thought about it, legality had long since flown out the window.

“All set?” Eber looked at her over his shoulder.

“Yes. My bag’s at the front door. What credits we have aren’t in plastic. I broke into our savings jar,” she came over and pulled up the other chair. “And all our documents and stuff, scattered about.”

“Alright,” A momentary grin came to Eber’s face. “You ready?”

Leila chucked, “You’re enjoying this too much.”

“We should at least get some fun out of it, shouldn’t we?” Eber returned, his grin returning fleetingly.

“Sometimes I wonder if all men aren’t pyromaniacs deep down at heart.”

Eber winked before he looked back at the console. “There might be something to that. Then let’s get started.”

Leila turned on her own console and after it loaded the first thing that popped up again was that red screen demanding the password. She glanced over at Eber and he nodded. The cracking program was started and they were both typing away furiously. Security protocols were bypassed, automatic attempts at traces, all circumvented. After the most exhausting ten minutes of her life, the screen went green and a soft female voice said, “Password Accepted.”

Right after the voice spoke a small counter began running in the upper lefthand corner. She frowned and realised Eber had given them a window to work in. Thirty minutes. Nothing more, nothing less.

She looked back at the screen and found a single folder sitting there, bearing the words ‘Project Naise.’ Eber silently handed over a slim, portable harddrive. She plugged it in before booting up a super compression program. It took the program only ten minutes to download all the data and compress it onto the hard drive. She unplugged it and slipped it into her jacket pocket.

Eber was already up, magnet in hand. She looked at it, a wave of sadness washing over her. Their entire life’s work was about to be wiped out by a single thing that fit in the palm of her hand. Everything that Adam and Neil were, everything that was left of them on the hard drive.

“Leila, I know,” Eber began. “If you want –”

She didn’t wait to hear it. She got up from her seat, grabbed the magnet and slammed it against the side of the console. The plasma screen flickered for a few seconds before it vanished. She left the magnet on for a bit before she pried it off and slapped it back into Eber’s hand.

“Okay.”

That was the only thing Eber said before they silently headed up the stairs. Leila let out a long breath, trying to ease the tension out of her body. There was nothing left but to go forward.

The kitchen was the only other place they went to. All the plasma displays were turned on, the fridge, the cooking unit, everything. After that, the only other thing turned on was the toaster, with a little extra tampering that would never show up as evidence.

That gave them five minutes to get out of the house and drive away. Fifteen minutes to get to their rendezvous with their contact.

All Leila knew was that labs and anything involving plasma was well ventilated for a good reason. Plasma weapons were essentially something capable of producing miniature explosions. Plasma, while useful could be deadly as hell.

They didn’t rush out the door though. They picked up their bags, walked out, locked the door behind them and got into the car. She started it up with the push of a button. Eber spent about three seconds punching in something and a soft chime echoed through the car. The car would still run, could still access things, but when it was found, not a single piece of information would be retained on the hard drive. The magnet would ensure that as well. They weren’t taking any chances.

It was easier than she ever would have thought to drive away from that house. That place they had called home, where Adam’s first code was written, with classical artist David Bowie playing softly in the background. Where the idea for Neil had first been conceived, when Eber saw the technician who came to fix their broken cooking unit, looking half starved and in need of a good meal.

When she felt the shockwave of the explosion four minutes later, she had no more tears left to shed. There were no more regrets about what they were leaving. Now, now they were doing something. She would get vengeance for their boys. She didn’t care if it was some antiquated notion, but Adam and Neil were her children, as if they were actual flesh and blood to her. She wanted someone to pay for what amounted to kidnapping them and doing who knew what. She wanted them back.

Eber reached over and took her free hand. Her eyes didn’t leave the road, but she grasped his hand tightly. They were doing something, finally doing something and it felt damned good.

The drive along the coast took them past well-maintained houses and malls, but when they took a turn onto the hyperway the scenery changed. The neat and tidy look of Pedrour, district seven, gave way to the crawl of industrial buildings. Off in the distance, she could see what looked like buildings. Long rows of something that could be tenaments, maybe. Leila frowned as she drove, wondering just how they had gone on for so long and not noticed any of this. Eber had his holopad out and was typing sporadically.

“Next exit, then turn left,” he was studying the holopad intently. “There’s an abandoned building about four miles due east from the turnoff. It connects up to the sewer system. We can access the Catacombs that way.”

Leila nodded. She slowed down as she got onto the city streets and kept an eye out for anything fenced off. Eber was fiddling with the dash console and then a soft beep sounded before a voice filled the car.

“… say the other two anarchists got away. However one anarchist, Katy O’Connell, was caught. At the moment, the authorities aren’t releasing any other information. Anyone seeing any suspicious activity in any city, nationwide, is asked to call the USS Military hotline. Once again, these anarchists are armed, dangerous and at large. Primary investigator Camilla Grey wasn’t available for comment though the LAMD issued a public statement.”

Leila gripped the wheel tighter as the reporter read through the statement. It was some sort of generic response, saying that it was an anarchist attack and was being fully investigated. Just up ahead she saw a chain link fence. That had to be the place. She pulled the car into a side alleyway and killed the engine, but left the broadcast running.

“Turning to entertainment news now, Cowell Entertainment Corp has announced it is bringing back its Fantasia and Clay programs for a short run while the infamous and wildly popular Adam program is still undergoing maintenance When precisely the Adam program will be back is –”

Eber made a derisive sound and turned off the dash console. Leila couldn’t have agreed with that more. She parked the car and Eber handed her the magnet as he grabbed the bags and got out. The magnet did its job in under a minute and Leila got out, putting it back in its case and tucking the case away in her pocket.

The fence was already cut and Eber was already working on the security system when she came up to him. After a few seconds of rapidly typing, the small red light on the door changed to green. They got inside quickly and the door was shut properly behind them. When Leila turned around, Eber was studying his holopad again. Probably trying to find the access door. She took a quick look around before she tapped him on the arm and pointed just off to their right.

A door was clearly illuminated in the bright midday sun and Eber’s eyes flitted over the holopad before he nodded his head. They headed over to the door and it only took another few seconds, the door left unlocked. Inside the room was an empty rack, but behind it was another door. One that was sealed shut. Leila dumped her bag and walked over, pulling the rack out of the way. A thud came from behind her, telling her Eber had done the same. She peered along where the faint outline was and she realised it had just been painted over.

“We can kick it in. But we’ve gotta hurry. We’ve only got what? Ten minutes?”

“Twenty actually,” Eber glanced at his watch. “I had my watch going as I set up the computers in our lab at home. Figured we might need extra time.”

“Alright,” Leila moved the empty shelves out of the way. “Let’s get started.”

The first thud of her foot against the door felt like it nearly jarred her leg right out of her hip. Swearing under her breath, she kept kicking at it where she figured the handle would be. Once Eber figured out her rhythm, he joined in. The door began making creaking sounds and collapsed a few minutes later. Stale air rushed up and out and she coughed, waving her hand through the gust of dust that floated out.

“C’mon,” Eber shouldered his bag and took her hand. “We’ve gotta go down four levels and over about eight blocks.”

Leila shouldered her pack and followed him, fumbling for a plasma light. “Damn, it’s dark. Really dark.”

“That it is,” Eber’s face was illuminated by his holopad. “I managed to get some really old city planning maps to help us through.”

“How old?” Leila asked, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I mean… the Catacombs are made up of old buildings and street levels from both decades and centuries ago.”

“I went as far back as the late twentieth century.” Eber was quiet for a moment. “Which seems ridiculous, but I figured I might as well hedge my bets with the rumours since this is where the contact wanted to meet us.”

All Leila did was nod her head as she followed him. The Catacombs. That had been considered nothing but urban legends when she was a kid. The Catacombs was where her parents had threatened to send her if she really misbehaved. And now here she was, willingly venturing forth into them, into this pitch black world to meet someone who she only knew as Alliecat.

Eber led them down, frequently checking their path on his holopad. The descent was easy enough, but going across the eight blocks was harder than Leila would have thought. Debris and old, rusted out shells of cars lay scattered in the way. They had to slow down, and they carefully made their way over the obstacles. The last thing they needed was to fall and to twist or break something. There was no medical attention down here.

When they went around the corner of a building, they immediately caught sight of another plasma light up ahead. Leila dropped back, outing her light quickly. Eber followed a few seconds later. They stood against the wall, and Leila was sure the wild thudding of her heart was echoing out. Had they been seen? Maybe, maybe not, but how were they to know –

“Hey!” a voice whispered out. “C’mon, I don’t have time for this. Venga, venga!”

Steps were coming towards them and Leila peered around the corner. A short, pretty Latino-looking girl was hurrying their way. Her face looked gaunt in the light and her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

“Alliecat?” she whispered back. She really hoped it was and wished she had thought of bringing a weapon of some kind.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Alliecat’s steps stopped and the whining prime of a plasma gun sounded now. “You two are?”

“Leila and Eber,” she hissed back.

There was silence for a moment and then, “Shit, those aren’t your real names are they?”

In retrospect, Leila could admit how monumentally stupid that was. But pressed for time, an alias was the last thing on her mind. Alliecat gave a dry laugh and there was the click of a weapon being turned off.

“Loco, no cop is stupid enough to use their real name. Might as well come on out. I won’t blast you.”

Eber’s hand found hers and she took a deep breath. They stepped out from around the corner into the bright white light. Leila’s jaw just about dropped.

“You’re just a teenager!”

Alliecat blinked then huffed. “And you two are ancient. Where are your weapons?”

“Non-existent,” Eber answered. “We don’t have any.”

“Dios mio,” Alliecat shook her head as she looked at their hands and then back to their faces. “I’ve got a card with some credits. I’ll have to get you two a weapon or something.”

“We have credits,” Leila said. “Don’t spend yours on us.”

“They aren’t mine to begin with,” Alliecat started walking, motioning for them to follow. “I tried to steal some guy’s wallet and he caught me. Then he turned around and gave me plastic with a shitload of credits on it. It was legit, so I wasn’t going to look at it twice. Should be enough credits to get you two set up with enough leftover for me.”

Leila let go of Eber’s hand and hurried after her. “What on Earth are you doing down here? You should be at home with your family.”

Something in Alliecat’s face hardened at that. “There are plenty of other things I should be doing. But here I am helping two locos, who don’t know enough to have a weapon ready to go and to use a simple alias.”

“If it helps any, we blew up our home.” Eber chimed in from the back. “It was on the coast, so maybe they’ll think our bodies were thrown into the surf.”

Alliecat looked back at them before she chuckled. “Man, what district were you two from?”

“Seven. Pedrour.” Eber caught up to them.

“That won’t buy you much time, that’s the rich blood district. Everything that happens there is more important. You two have gotta lay low for the next few months. They can’t find any trace of you at all, comprende? And you need some aliases. None of this real name stuff.”

“What do you suggest?” Leila was still drawing a big fat blank on that one.

Alliecat paused, eyeing them critically, before she pointed to Eber and declared, “Silver. And Sable for you, mamacita.”

Leila snorted in amusement as Alliecat winked at her. “Our hair colour, really?”

“You got anything better?” Alliecat asked before she shrugged and continued walking.

“She’s got a point,” there was a smile on Eber’s face. “Sable.”

“Oh shut up, Silver.” Leila grumbled.

But there was a smile on her face as well, and as they followed after Alliecat, Leila thought maybe it was time to have a little faith in someone else for a change. Even if that someone else barely seemed like they were seventeen.

She felt against her jacket and the slim rectangular shape of the harddrive was easily felt. Once they were safely hidden away and set up, they could start going over everything they had downloaded and make a plan of attack.

But one step at a time. They had to take it one step at a time.

_________________________________________________________


	5. Chapter 5

  


They’d only been in Arile for a day. Monster had taken them to their secure location, an abandoned barracks with painted over windows, and they’d bunked down for some needed rest. It was a bit dusty from infrequent use, but there were beds and a cooling unit for their remaining food.

Adam had been complaining of a headache for most of the day and went to lie down. Kris, Tommy and Monster were busy discussing their cover stories, making sure everything was airtight. There could be no mistakes when they hit the border. Mistakes, Monster repeatedly pointed out, were what fucked everyone over at the border. He’d never been caught because he’d never screwed up.

Their discussion had been only going for an hour when a loud shout broke it. Adam tumbled out of the sleeping area, looking pale and shaken. He also looked like he was somewhere else entirely, eyes dilated and focused on something none of them could see. Monster stopped both Kris and Tommy from going to see what was wrong.

Adam stumbled over to a pile of debris some previous renegade group had shuffled over into a corner. Adam picked up a sharp looking chunk of concrete, and as he started scrawling numbers out rapidly, a chill went up Kris’ spine.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

The distant look on Adam’s face was vanishing and as soon as he stopped writing Tommy ran over to him. Kris noted that Tommy was careful to avoid the scrawl on the floor. But he took Adam’s face in his hands, studying him, asking him in a soft voice if he was okay. Adam looked freaked out, but nodded his head silently. Kris’s heart squeezed a little bit and he thought of Katy, hoped to God that she was okay.

Monster walked over and looked at the numbers on the floor. He pointed to something on the end. “What’s this number here?”

Kris could have sworn that Adam went paler when he said, “That’s Neil’s barcode.”

“What’s it doing after the co-ordinates for Lanta?” Monster’s gaze fixed on Adam. There was a look on his face that said he knew, but needed confirmation.

“I don’t…” Adam was rubbing at his head as he trailed off. Then he continued with, “They left Los Angeles. Something happened. That’s where they’re heading. I think… Neil’s sending an SOS.”

“Tommy.”

That was all Monster said. Tommy looked over Adam a second longer before he got up, grabbing his holopad from the table where he left it. Kris watched as he and Monster did something, fingers moving rapid-fire fast across the keypad. Kris came over to where Adam was sitting, still looking pale and stricken.

“Do you need a hydra-pack or something?”

“No,” Adam shook his head. “Something bad happened. Someone…”

“Don’t try to force it,” Kris rubbed his back soothingly. The muscles were tense, bunched up in knots. “Monster and Tommy are on it. They’ll find out –”

“Shit.”

That was the only word Tommy said. It was emphatic and strained. Then he and Monster were talking in low whispers again. Kris swallowed hard and kept rubbing at Adam’s back absently. It was easier to focus on Adam than on that growing ball of worry in his gut. He didn’t look up when steps came over in their direction. Tommy crouched down, helping Adam to his feet.

“C’mon, babyboy, let’s get something for your headache.”

Kris watched as they got up and walked back over to the beds. For the first time since they met, Tommy didn’t meet his gaze. He wondered if Tommy even could and is mouth went dry, the fear in his gut solidifying into a hard ball. Heavier steps came his way now before Monster crouched down beside him. He didn’t want to look at Monster because if he looked and saw anything in his eyes, be it pity, determination, anything at all, he would have to admit the horrible realization edging into his consciousness.

“She was –” Monster began.

“Was.” Kris said quickly, stomach plummeting and mind rejecting the idea immediately. No, it just couldn’t happen that way.

There was a heavy pause before Monster spoke. “Was. Kris, she was –”

“Don’t.”

Kris choked the word out and felt it burn. Monster remained silent for another moment before he said,

“There’s a holocast in an hour. We need to watch it, to know the precise situation.”

That was all Monster said before he got back to his feet and walked away. Kris was glad he left it at that. He didn’t know what he would have done if Monster had tried saying anything else. It was odd to feel so hollow and detached, only anchored down by the feeling of dread in his stomach. He made his way over to a table and simply sat down, not moving or doing much of anything. He didn’t want to believe it. His mind kept trying to wrap around the idea, but it slid away like a slippery fish. If he ignored it for as long as possible, maybe he’d wake up from this bad dream, this godawful VR simulation. Katy would be there with a painkiller and chide him for taking another unecessary risk. That smile would come to her face and everything would be right in Kris’s world again. She would be there with another insane scheme. Another idea that would make Kris want to drag her off to the depths of the Catacombs and not surface again.

She would be there.

It seemed like only a few minutes had passed before Monster and Tommy really moved again, setting up their holopads to work as dual projectors. The eerily crisp logo of the United Southern States News Network gave off blue light and sat floating in the air. It rotated a few times before it vanished away and was replaced by a scene of a table and a sleek metallic podium.

An officer with short black hair came out and started talking, but her words didn’t connect and register in Kris’s mind. And then for some reason the last few words sunk right in.

“…Anarchist prisoner number C4662.”

A door snicked open and Katy walked out.

There was no denying it anymore. She had on the slate grey prison suit with the number stenciled right across the front. The feeling in his stomach intensified and he swallowed hard, not sure how he kept from throwing up right then and there.

“She’s not… Her name is Katy,” Kris whispered. “Katy O’Connell.”

None of this was supposed to be happening. Katy was supposed to come and find him once they got to the north and they’d… they’d…

‘ _My name,_ ’ Katy said easily as she sat down and faced the camera fully. ‘ _Is Katy O’Connell and I freely admit to being an anarchist. Nearly a month ago, I broke into a Fuller compound and destroyed data as well as two blank android bodies,_ ’

“No no no,” Kris finally turned, body protesting the sudden movement. “What is she doing?”

Monster, Tommy and Adam were standing behind him, watching intently. There was a devastated look on Adam’s face, but Tommy and Monster looked grim, like this hadn’t been the first time they had seen something like this. Kris looked back at the holocast as Katy started talking again.

‘ _I do freely admit that I worked alone in these acts of terrorism. I destroyed data with magnets and melted down the android bodies using acid injected into the ambiotic tubes. There was nothing else that could be done beyond that. And so do I refuse to say anything else aside from this: people, you are not sheep. You are not sheep._ ’

The words were a bit startling as was Katy’s sudden burst of movement.

She stuck her tongue out before she slammed her lower jaw against the table in front of her. There were shouts and panic as people moved back and the officers moved in to subdue her. Kris couldn’t look away as her severed tongue went flying through the air, blood gushing out from between her clenched teeth. She was grabbed up by the officers, but she twisted free and started banging the back of her head against the table.

The officers tried to stop her, but she continued to thrash. Her head hit the table a few more times before something obviously worked.

A pained, dazed look came to her face before her eyes widened and she gasped, pooled blood pouring out from her mouth. But before she could even said anything, her body jerked in a ghastly shudder and her eyes rolled back. She collapsed against the table, unmoving as blood sluggishly pumped out from her slack mouth.

Her eyes were vacant staring into the camera and Kris felt like she was looking right at him until the holocast feed abruptly cut out.

Silence fell until the sound of a foot scuffing against the ground came. A hand came down gently on his shoulder and Kris looked up to see Adam bending down. When Adam simply hugged him, Kris pushed at him, tried to get him away. Adam responded by tightening his hug.

All of a sudden, Kris’s eyes felt like they were burning and his vision blurred. He suddenly couldn’t catch his breath, hiccupy-sounding wheezes loud in the silence. He twisted in Adam’s hold and pushed at the firm grip weakly, wheezes quickly turning into loud, huffing gasps as Katy’s blank stare hovered in his mind’s eye.

When he realised Adam wasn’t letting him go, Kris crumbled. He always figured grief would be something that crashed into him, tore him apart. This was so much more different, like a sticky tar pulling him in and not letting him go. He wasn’t sure he wanted it to.

Because Katy was gone. She’d beencaptured and died on holocast, bleeding and defiant to the very end.

The sob that worked its way up wasn’t loud, but something soft and broken. His chest heaved from the pain of it, as though his heart and lungs and vocal chords could physically express what his mind was still taking in. He held on to Adam as another quiet, breathy sob slipped out, followed by more. Katy was gone, she was _gone_ and there was nothing that he could have done while being over five hundred miles away. That hollow, detached feeling was gone and he just felt empty inside, in his mind, as if any part of him that could feel had been removed even as his body continued to revolt. It was the only thing that made sense, because just the idea that Katy was gone and never coming back… it was something that left too big a hole in his world.

Adam was stroking his hair now, murmuring something and the grief welled up from that empty feeling. It felt too fresh and razor-sharp, like he would start bleeding out any second now.

“Kris.”

Tommy’s voice was quiet and Kris drew back a bit to look at him. Well, at the blurry image of him. He blinked rapidly a few times, feeling cold and wetness on his face. There was a hydra-pack in Tommy’s hand, but he bent down.

“You’re gonna have a nasty headache the way you’re going. Here.”

There was a small white pill in Tommy’s hand and Kris just opened his mouth mindlessly. All Tommy did was place it on his tongue before he quickly stabbed the straw into the hydra-pack and placed it against Kris’s mouth.

Fresh tears came to his eyes and slipped down while he sniffled and he drank. Katy used to do the exact same thing to him, only with a smart comment. Usually after he came out of VR. His eyes felt raw and gritty, his chest pounded with his stifled, hard breathing, and he wished this entire situation had never happened. This was hard, it was too damned hard.

He finished off the hydra-pack and then sat there, staring at it for a few minutes before, “I’m gonna…”

The sentence was left unfinished, his voice rough, as he pushed Adam back and stood up, moving over to where his bed was. He walked over slowly, feeling everyone’s eyes on him. Not that he cared. He couldn’t. Katy had so many eyes on her, so many watching and still, she had courage and determination enough to not let herself wind up in prison.

Kris sat down on the edge of the bed, facing away from everyone. After sitting there for a few moments, he lay down, sliding beneath the standard blanket, hands tucked beneath the standard pillow underneath his head.

And even as he lay there, just thinking the words didn’t help or make it better.

Katy was gone. Katy was gone and she would never come back.

It was the only thing running through his mind. It repeated on a loop as he silently cried himself to sleep.

_________________________________________________________

Puking on the job wasn’t something Cam had done since her rookie days. Blood and gore, while few and far between was a part of her job. She dealt with it. But after that press conference turned disaster… Cam felt her bile rise again and she leaned over the toilet, stomach convulsing and heaving uncontrollably even though her stomach was long empty of any remains of her earlier meal pack.

Once it passed, she sat back down heavily. The cool metal of the shower unit was refreshing against her burning skin. She closed her eyes and rubbed slowly at her temples. Since she had stepped foot into her home, she pretty much hadn’t left the bathroom.

Capturing Katy O’Connell hadn’t been easy by a long shot, and Cam tried to submerge the thought that she really wish she hadn’t.

Finding the depot had been easy. And when the evidence had been looked over and analysed, Cam figured Katy had met up with some other anarchists. Why else would a single pair of people come all the way out to a heavily mechanised, automated shipping depot? And she knew there had been two other people there.

She got up slowly, feeling her stomach protest as she moved from a sitting to standing position. But she made her way to the sink anyway and ran the water, icy cold. She plugged the sink and let it fill a bit before she splashed her face a few times. She rinsed her mouth and spit it out before letting it drain.

The last few days’ events filtered across her mind like a holocast. When she had checked the shipping manifestos she’d seen that only one other shipment was coming in from Pastche. It was a day earlier than originally scheduled. Something in Cam had felt electrified at that and, with four other officers comprising her team, she’d laid a trap.

A trap that Katy had sniffed out and sacrified herself to. Cam raised her head and wiped the excess water from her face, trying not to catch her image in the mirror.

How Katy figured it out, she would never know, but something alerted Katy and next thing Cam knew, the trap was shot to hell and they were in the middle of a firefight. Two other people had been with Katy, not that Cam got a glimpse of them. Katy had edged them closer to a transport and then thrown them in, locking the door behind them.

The automated machine had performed its standard motions and Cam could have screamed as the transport pulled out easily. It was gone off to the hyperway and before she could even bark an order to the other officers with her, Katy had made it to an input console.

Any trace of where the transport was heading was nearly completely wiped. Then one of the officer’s ion shots caught Katy in the leg. She went down in a haze of smoke and the acrid stink of burnt flesh. Cam had run over to the console and seen the list of the truck’s destinations before Katy raised a hand and fired her plasma weapon.

The console flickered and died before Cam could try to salvage anything from the remaining pieces of data.

Even interrogation had been a frustrating failure. Katy, after being healed from her leg wound, simply refused to reveal anything. A Mnemonic Trace was out of the question once her link had been inspected. Something was patched onto it, blocking all monitoring. It was some nasty piece of programming with teeth.

Her superiors had demanded answers. Cam figured pressure was being applied from somewhere else. Heavy pressure, given how stringently they had tried. And then Katy had levelled her with a look. Nothing had been said, but Cam had felt uneasy under such a piercing, direct gaze.

Then Katy had spoken, simply claiming full responsibility for the acts of anarchy against Cowell Industries.

She shook her head as she stood up fully and left the bathroom, flicking the light off. Cam should have known better. A suspect didn’t just do a full turn-about unless they had something planned. Not that she could really see what Katy had in mind, that damned patch on her cybernetic saw to that.

But Cam’s superiors had jumped at that the confession. All Cam knew was that it was soon blown way out of proportion and there was a press conference being organised. That chafed, having her prisoner being made a public example of. They were simply supposed to catch anarchists and send them to prison, not parade them about like exhibits.

Through it all Katy had remained grimly poker-faced. Cam shook her head as she made her way down the hall to her bedroom, wanting nothing more than to pass out for a few hours and let her mind rest. Katy had some grit and balls, Cam would give her that. Anger had snapped in those eyes when she was given something to read. When Cam had tried to circumvent that, she was denied so fast, she was sure a formal reprimand was forthrcoming.

But Katy had simply looked at the sheet and nodded. And then when she had stepped into that room, Cam could see it in her eyes… she wasn’t addressing that room. She was addressing someone else. Somewhere, who only knew where.

And when she had moved, throwing herself forward… the bright gush of fresh blood had been shocking to say the least. Cam had run forward first, trying to stop Katy, but she got an elbow to the face for her trouble and was knocked back. By the time she pulled herself together again a few seconds later, it was all over.

Katy O’Connell lay dead on the table.

Cam hadn’t left the station until the medical examiner had delivered a final result. Katy O’Connell had killed herself using a small, virtually undetectable capsule of botulimix, injected under the skin close to where her port was.

It was ingenious for any anarchist, in Cam’s opinion. A failsafe, tucked away in the last place anyone would think to look. No one ever really thought someone would cannibalise their cybernetic. Anarchists used a bit of code to turn them off, to their official knowledge, but boobytrap them? That was a new experience.

Katy had sacrified herself for something she felt to be worthwhile. It was the what that was driving Cam nuts.

And she knew it had to do with the two people Katy had sent off in the transport.

With Katy dead and having claimed all responsibility, the case was officially closed. But this would stick with Cam until she had her answers.

She had a small pack with her standard issue weapons, tools and identification ready at the foot of the stairs. Her uniform was looking a little on the scruffy side, but at the moment she couldn’t bring herself to care. In order to fully resolve this case, she was about to do something highly inadvisable.

Finding out how to turn off her cybernetic was surprisingly easy. There was a code for it on file, as taken from anarchists and hackers who were locked up in Calista Prison. It hadn’t even been password protected in the database. It was sitting on the small portable info key she had with her.

Some trepidation filled her as she stepped into her room and made her way to the computer console. She started it up and plugged in the key. Once the information copied over, she dug out the jack and plugged one end into the computer. She leaned forward and took a deep breath as she plugged the other end of the jack in and twisted it to lock it in place. She used VR for half her duties, but she would never get completely used to the disorienting sensation of the world disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The bedroom vanished away under a blue grid that was overlaid with plain white. For a moment, Cam thought she did something wrong, but then a single dialogue box popped up on the screen.

‘ _Auto-run cybernetic crack program?_ ’

Her mouth went a bit dry as she croaked out, “Yes.”

The dialogue box vanished away and a progress bar came up. It went surprisingly fast. Cam only sat there for a few minutes before it gave a soft chime and declared the process done. She blinked, unsure of whether or not it actually worked and disconnected herself from the computer. It wasn’t until she passed by the mirror in the hallway that she saw the first indicator of the procedure being successful.

The lights on her cybernetic were off. The perpetual soft red glow that came from the device was gone. She stood there, staring for a moment, before something else dawned on her. It was too quiet inside her head. As if it was just her and her alone, for the first time since she had the thing beside her ear installed. She tried to remember how long that was. She’d been a kid when it had been installed, a birthday gift. Her parents had been so proud.

She couldn’t really complain about the new silence, because for once something in her shitty job led to something good.

For a long moment she waited to receive some notification that her thoughts had gotten back to her superiors. Nothing came.

A smile came to her face. She really hated her fucking job and thought that pretty much all her superiors, with the exception of Commander Jackson, were a bunch of snivelling asswipes who couldn’t man up if they had an extra set of balls.

Still nothing.

“Wow,” Cam murmured to herself. “Now I can really get some fucking work done without someone looking over my shoulder all the damned time.”

A growing sense of elation filled her as she hurried down the stairs and grabbed her pack. She left the house, locked the door and got into her HSV. Her pack was thrown in the back and she started down the street for the hyperway.

If this was freedom, she’d happily take it.

_________________________________________________________

Exhaustion was a state of being Adam was semi-accustomed to now. Since the holocast from two days ago, they had been on the go. None of them wanted to stop moving. Between three different transports and, by his calculations, a rather roundabout journey, they finally arrived in Lanta.

It was another major urban center and once they were safely off the transport, they headed below ground. Lanta’s Catacomb system wasn’t as intricate as Los Angeles, but it still had some complex systems and it gave them enough shelter. They didn’t descend too deeply down, only two levels. It was down to the co-ordinates as transmitted by Neil. It made Adam feel a bit antsy, being so close to the surface where anyone could stumble across them. It couldn’t be helped, but it was making them all twitchy, which put Adam even more on edge.

But what really worried Adam, more than anything else at the moment, was Kris’s silence.

Ever since the holocast where Katy had terminated herself, Kris had lapsed into silence. The entire journey over here, it had been the four of them in a container with air recyclers. At first, no one really disturbed Kris. Adam wasn’t too sure what he would have said to the other man anyhow. Tommy… Tommy seemed to know somehow when Adam was about to say something to Kris. Then a hand would rest on his arm. Adam would look over and Tommy would give a slight shake of his head.

Adam didn’t know what to do about such a state of being. It was misery, grief and despair made absolute. It didn’t help that now they were waiting for Monte and Neil to show up. That had Adam’s gut twisting in nerves. He wanted to see Neil, to make sure he was alright, but he wasn’t too sure if –

“You’re doing it again,” Tommy came and sat down beside him on the collapsed couch. He held out the blue-covered rectangle. “Want your book?”

“It’s Monster’s book,” Adam took it, placed it beside him as he looked back to the bed. Kris was still lying down. He hadn’t really moved all day. “I gave up trying to read it. Couldn’t focus.”

“Yeah, I know.” Tommy’s eyes flicked over to the bed before he looked at Adam again. “Nervous?”

“No,” he rubbed the palms of his hands against his thigh. “Yes. I just… you know, hope they’re okay.”

“Monte will get them here fast as possible,” Tommy watched him for a moment. “You should try to get some sleep.”

Adam shook his head. “I’ll be sleeping enough soon.” That… Adam kept trying not to think about that.

With those words Tommy just nodded his head in response, a distracted look in his eyes. Adam settled for picking at the fabric of his pants. Truth be told, the thought of redownloading back onto something terrified him. It left him feeling abnormally cold and completely irrational thoughts kept coming to mind. Things such as, he wouldn’t get his body back. He’d be trapped on some sort of harddrive forever, a digital being once more. Locked away in some VR forever.

In the time he’d been in this body, he’d become quite attached to it. Even if lower parts of his anatomy seemed to possess a life all its own. He wanted to continue breathing, seeing, tasting and simply existing on the physical plane. And as contradictory as it sounded, he was willing to take the risk of redownloading if the end result was being back in his body once more. He looked over at Tommy, a question poised on his tongue, only to find that distracted look still on Tommy’s face.

Adam couldn’t really say what prompted him to reach over and take Tommy’s hand in his. Maybe it was a completely irrational impulse that guided him. But a surprised look came to Tommy’s face now. And when Adam squeezed his hand, it was easy to see anxiety in Tommy’s brown eyes.

“Monster’s off getting the cryo-pods. Monte and Neil are on the way. As soon as they get here, Neil and I will download and we’ll try to get into the North.”

Tommy’s jaw clenched for a moment. “If we don’t get in, then –”

“We will,” Adam didn’t really want to think of the consequences if they didn’t. He tried to view it as something that simply wasn’t a variable. “We will.”

Tommy didn’t say anything before he squeezed Adam’s hand with a heavy sigh. Adam gave him a smile and all Tommy did was shake his head. But there was a smile on his face now too. The smile morphed into a yawn but Adam didn’t say anything. He silently got up and retrieved a blanket before he came back to the couch. He unfolded it and Tommy took it without preamble. Adam settled back down on the couch, picking up the book.

“Are you allowed to nag me about sleep when you’re –” Adam started.

“Yes.” Tommy said flatly as he stretched out, sliding down along the broken couch and resting his head on Adam’s leg. “Wake me up when Monster gets back?”

“I will.”

That was all Adam replied with as he smoothed Tommy’s hair back from his head. Tommy gave him a momentary grin before he closed his eyes. It took Tommy less than five minutes to fall completely asleep, breathing evening out into a deep, steady rhythm. Adam started reading, taking his time and trying to puzzle out the characters in the novel. Though he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was reading a book written in the mid nineteenth century. Something from almost a thousand years ago.

For a long while the only sound in the room was the scrape of pages being turned. But then a rustling from the bed caught Adam’s attention. He twisted to look over. Kris was sitting up, looking bleary-eyed and still exhausted.

No one was sleeping well, given the situation. The constant travelling, the irregular sleeping hours… Adam would not be surprised if the first thing everyone did was simply sleep when it was safe to do so. Just sleep for an entire day and night, however long they wanted. He considered getting up, but Tommy’s head was still warm and heavy on his leg and –

“Just want a hydra-pack.” Kris mumbled.

Adam simply nodded his head and watched as Kris shuffled to where the packs were sitting by the escape door. As Kris retrieved the silver package, Adam one more felt as if his heart was literally being squeezed by something

“Kris?” Adam spoke quietly.

All Kris did was stare at Adam, waiting for the words to come. Adam could see the bloodshot sclera of his eyes and knew that Kris hadn’t been sleeping soundly at all.

“Could you bring me a blanket, please?”

There was terse nod from Kris and a minute later, the folded blanket was handed to him. Adam put the book down and fumbled with it quickly. He gently lifted Tommy’s head and pulled the blanket over his legs. Kris was heading back towards the bed when Adam spoke quickly.

“Do you want to sit?” Adam wondered if he was crazy when Kris stopped but didn’t turn around. “It should help with blood circulation.”

For a few moments, Adam was pondering if the truth had been the best argument to get Kris out of bed, at least for a bit. Because blood circulation seemed like a poor excuse in the face of what Kris was coping with. But then Kris just nodded his head and came back over. Adam quickly picked up his book and Kris settled down beside him. The silence wasn’t exactly comfortable, like it was with Tommy, but Adam figured it was safest to not say anything else really. He started reading again and then not even five minutues later,

“Tommy’s right to worry, you know. If we don’t get in, we’ll end up in Calista Prison.”

Adam went still for a moment before he closed the book. Then he looked at Kris and said, “I would like to believe that we will.”

“Would like?” Kris latched on to that fast.

“Nothing is foolproof. But I think of the random chances that led to me and… well, my brother, gaining consciousness. Of the astronomical odds that dictated we should _not_ have been able to upload into these bodies and we did…” Adam shrugged. “You might call it God.”

“…God. Living in this country, it’s hard to believe in God. But I saw things here and there that helped me keep my faith. I mean, how else could God exist but in those little things? But it was chipped, worn down. Now,” Kris gave a bitter laugh. “It’s shattered into a million tiny pieces. Now… now I just… I don’t know, and…”

The words faltered and Kris made a choked sound. That squeezing sensation was back at Adam’s heart again and he reached over with an arm and hugged Kris as best he could. This time, Kris didn’t try to push him away, just leaned into him, fitting in under his arm, up against Adam’s side.

“I just want her back.”

That was all Kris whispered and Adam felt panic creep through him now. Just what precisely was he supposed to say to something like that? He just sat there, hugging Kris as best he could. After a few moments, Kris drew back and got up. Adam watched helplessly as he walked back to the bed, wiping at his eyes and sniffling. The click of the door lock disengaging was the only thing that made him look away.

Monster slipped back inside, making sure the door was secure behind him. Anticipation coursed through him as Monster caught his gaze, head tilting to the side slowly. Carefully, Adam slipped his blanket free and folded it up before pillowing Tommy’s head on it. When Adam came over, Monster didn’t speak for a few moments.

“Everything’s been arranged. The cryo-pods are on the ground level with the transport. Parked inside. As soon as Monte and Neil arrive, you two will download into these,”

Adam simply watched as Monster reached into his jacket. Two slim rectangles came out in his hand along with two neatly coiled, packaged cords. His mouth went dry and he rubbed his palms against his legs.

“That’s the harddrive?”

“Special ones, with dense information capacity. Fast too,” Monster’s gaze turned intent. “As soon as you and Neil are safely inside the cryo-pods, I’ll activate the forged transport order. They’re only good for twenty four hours, enough to deliver the goods to the North and then come back.”

“You, Tommy and Kris will have everything under control?” Adam wished he could have sounded more confident. Now, faced with the zero hour looming, it was a lot harder to feel that confidence he’d showed Tommy.

“As much as we can. This transport is special. There’s a hidden compartment for weapons or, in a pinch, a person,” Monster paused, peering at Adam. “Are you sure you want to do this? The downloading? I can stash you in the compartment with an air recycler.”

“No. We need to maximize the chances of success for this. I’ll redownload and –”

A soft beep came from something on Monster. A holopad was pulled out and a few seconds later Monster was reaching for his plasma weapon. Adam went over to Tommy and eased the plasma gun out from its holster on his side. Thankfully, it was the side not against the couch. Kris was lying back down on the bed, probably asleep. Adam moved as quietly as he could, following Monster.

Fear was coursing through him, making his body’s endocrine system pump out adrenaline. He knew what it was, but that didn’t stop the pound of his heart or his abruptly abnormal breathing patterns. A vague notion occurred to him that he should have woken Tommy up. But for once Adam would take care of Tommy so that he could sleep.

They moved up crumbling stone steps and Adam realised Monster had set up a perimeter field of some kind. He looked down at the gun, Tommy coming to mind as he released the safety switch. Shoot anything in black first, wait for anything else. Monster came to a stop and Adam did the same. Frankly, Adam was sure he mightn’t hear anything over the pound of his heart.

But then Monster was sheathing his weapon again. Adam flicked the safety on and stepped forward with him. There, coming down the hall, looking haggard and worse for wear, were Monte and Neil. Adam knew what disaster they had been through, but it didn’t stop the sense of elation and relief from coursing through him. There was the sound of something briefly powering down as they appproached. Adam barely heard the hum die down before he was walking forward.

There was a grim look on Monte’s face and Neil looked like he was barely standing up on his own two feet. Adam hurried over, picking up one of Neil’s arms and slinging it over his shoulder. Monster gestured for them to head down before he slipped past them and continued on upwards. Getting Neil down the stairs wasn’t easy and when they stepped into the room, they made a direct beeline for Adam’s bed.

“He’s exhausted,” Monte said as they stretched him out. “He needs to rest and soon.”

“ ‘m fine.” There was a stubborn tone to Neil’s worn voice. He started to sit up but Monte brusquely shoved him back down.

“When we were on the truck he damned near managed to turn it around a few times,” Monte shook his head and ran his hand over his cropped hair. “When are you planning on redownloading? He probably should do that at the same time as you.”

“We’ve been waiting for you to arrive first,” Adam glanced over to where Tommy was still fast asleep. “I don’t think it’ll be soon though.”

That got a nod from Monte. “Too late now. It’ll probably be in the morning then. Morning rush at the border is –”

“Insane. Crazy,” Neil sat up. “Perfect time to make a run for it.”

Neil was trying to stand up, though a bit unsteadily. Adam frowned as he noticed the red capillaries in Neil’s eyes. He reached for the link up he had with Neil, ignoring the dull throb that settled at the base of his neck. It felt like he was trying to interconnect with something murky, tangled and sticky. Adam was sure Monte hadn’t realised how out of it Neil was. Otherwise, a sedative might have been forced down Neil’s throat.

Adam managed to force through a sense of calm, and Neil responded, sagging back against the bed. After making sure he was comfortable, Adam stood up and turned to Monte.

“Kris,” he turned to look and found him, “Is sleeping. So’s Tommy.”

“I gathered. He’s not up. I didn’t have a gun pointed at me,” Monte studied Adam for a moment. “Crazy as these past few weeks have been, he’s been sleeping better. Let him sleep. Don’t wake him up.”

“I wasn’t planning to. If we’re going to take a run at the border, everyone needs to be well-rested.”

Something flickered in Monte’s eyes. “Especially for afterwards.”

That made Adam pause. But he didn’t get a chance to pursue it since a distinct click caught his attention. Monster stood in the doorway, a set expression on his face.

“The upper level is secure again. If we’re going to do this run, we need to prep now. You and Neil should redownload now.”

“Now?” Even as Adam said it, he knew it made the most sense.

“Any potential problems, I want to deal with them now. Not at the last moment. That alright with you?”

“Yes. Just… let me give Tommy back his gun.”

Both of Monte’s eyebrows shot up. “You got that off Tommy without waking him?”

“Yes?” Adam felt that there was something crucial he was missing here.

Monte didn’t say anything to that, simply helped Neil up off the bed. Adam watched as they made their way to the door and then up the stairs. There always seemed to be something he was missing, and his list of questions to ask was getting alarmingly long. He slowly made his way over to where Tommy was now stretched out on the couch. The book was wedged between Tommy’s arm and the flat, worn cushion. He pulled it out gently and rested it on the floor within reach. The gun was placed down on top of it and, after a moment, Adam crouched down. He simply looked at Tommy fast asleep.

This had to be one of the few times he saw Tommy’s face completely unguarded and in the light. That one night in Querque, by the eerie green of the plasma gun’s charge indicator didn’t count.

He simply crouched there and debated waking Tommy up. But still, Adam couldn’t bring himself to. Tommy needed this, needed this little bit of something just for himself. That left a heavy feeling in Adam’s chest and throat. It felt as if it was suddenly too hard to breathe. This was definitely another emotional response. But it was so mixed, with sadness, fear and hope that Adam wasn’t too sure he could say where one started and another ended.

He stared at Tommy for a bit longer before he suddenly moved forward. He pressed his lips against Tommy’s brow gently. For a moment, Tommy stirred before he settled back down. Adam smoothed away the hair that flopped into his face before getting up and walking towards and up the stairs.

It was hard to not think that this was possibly the last time he would see anyone else. Would see Kris or Monster, Monte or Neil.

Or Tommy.

That last one left his throat dry and wondering if he really should go back and wake up Tommy. But his steps carried him up to the ground level.

There was a maze of crates to go through before Adam spotted the transport. The back was open and and a dull blue glow was emanating from it. Silhouettes were moving around inside and when he got to the back he could see more clearly. Neil, stark naked, was clambering into the cryo-pod. His grip fumbled at the sides and he fell a bit before Monte and Monster caught him.

There had been a wet slapping sound, oddly unidentifiable. But Adam watched as Neil sat down and leaned forward. Monte’s hand disappeared into the cryo-pod. When it emerged seconds later, it was glistening with something and in his hand was a sealed, capped jack. It looked thick and had dull lines running through it. Monster had a holopad in hand, probably connected to the cryo-pods wirelessly, since he was typing away furiously.

Adam used their link to check on Neil, who glanced up and smiled tiredly at him.

‘ _On the other side._ ’ Adam sent the idea as confidently as he could. Neil’s head bobbed briefly in agreement. That brief moment calmed Adam’s nerves a bit. He focused back in on the transport.

The cryo-pod itself was long and sleek, with a small dropdown door sticking out by what had to have been the head. And sitting there on the dropdown door was the small form of the high density drive. Monster was still typing as Monte eased Neil back. Adam watched as Neil lay down and it looked a bit like the cryo-pod was slowlly swallowing him.

He swallowed hard and watched. The thrum of something running started up and a few seconds later, Monster gave a heavy sigh, tinged with relief. Adam made himself take the short stepladder up onto the transport and approached Monster.

“It’s working?” Adam didn’t know if he could handle looking into the pod yet.

Monster nodded his head. “And the write time is surprisingly fast. Neil’s chip is directing most of the download. I simply had to tweak it.”

“Tweak it?” Adam echoed.

“It was coded to send an automatic location update to the home servers. That would have tipped off Fuller.”

“Ah.”

That was all Adam found himself saying. He’d looked down into the open pod and almost wished he hadn’t. Neil’s eyes were closed now and he was completely relaxed. Whatever he was sitting in, it looked thick and yellow, like some kind of gel. There was a basic, almost frail-looking, metal structure embedded in the gel and it supported Neil’s body well. His hands were elevated as was everything from the collarbone up. The rest of his body was slowly submerging into the gel.

He just stared as Neil was downloaded out of his body, leaving a shell behind. That would be him in –

A hand settling on his shoulder made him jump. Monte held up a placating hand as he quietly asked, “Did you need more time?”

“No, now,” Adam shook his head. He wasn’t about to let more hesitancy settle in. “What do I do?”

“Strip and get into the pod. I’ll set up the program.” Monte dug out his holopad and started it up.

For a moment, Adam tried to puzzle out Monte’s instructions. Then he simply asked, “Strip?”

Monte looked up and nodded. When Adam stared blankly at him, it took a moment before he gave a little ‘Oh’ and then clarified with, “Take off your clothes. I’ll just make sure that I have the right parameters set with Monster.”

Adam was very glad that Monte turned and hunched over his holopad with Monster. It was the illusion of privacy but it was enough and worked to muffle the sudden sense of modesty welling up in him. He took off his shirt, shivering a bit as the cool air made his skin gooseflesh. The pants and socks were next and Adam neatly folded them all up before walking up to the cryo-pod. At least the yellowish gellooked warm.

He held onto the side as he lifted a leg over. The sensation of entering the gel was weird. It was definitely liquid, but it parted almost like a solid. On the upside, it was fairly warm. He got in and eased down onto the body rest inside. The metal pieces took his weight easily.

His throat felt dry even as he called out, “Okay.”

Monte waited a few seconds before he turned and came over, holopad and drive in hand. Adam silently watched as he finished setting up. The drive was connected to the pod and the holopad connected to the drive.

“This is going to be very different from going into VR or, for you I’d imagine, uploading. The drive will run only until you’ve completely uploaded. Once that’s done, the drive will lock and shut down. It can only be run once the proper password is entered. I’ll make sure Tommy knows it when he wakes up.”

Adam nodded, eyes drawn to Monster. He had a face unit of some kind in hand that he fitted over Neil’s nose and mouth.

“Respiratory mask,” Monte supplied, following Adam’s gaze. “Helps keep you well oxygenated. Plus all androids have one to prevent contamination during shipping.”

“Lucky for us,” That was all Adam murmured. A hesitant look came to Monte’s eyes, prompting Adam to say, “Okay. I’m ready.”

There was that wet slapping sound and Adam knew, Monte was reaching down to get the jack. Monte took a deep breath before he touched Adam’s shoulder, gently pushing him forward. Adam did and felt the jack slide into place and lock a few seconds later. The blue grid came down over his field of vision before it melted away a few minutes later. His vision was starting to go fuzzy around the edges. Monte’s face blurred out. Adam vaguely wished it was Tommy’s face that was there. Then he closed his eyes and let everything be translated back into zeroes and ones.

_________________________________________________________

Waking up to quiet wasn’t something Tommy was used to. Almost always, there was something noisy going on in the background. Even when it was just him and Monte, they took shifts more often than not and he would hear Monte’s movements upon waking. Hell, when it was just Tommy he almost always had a program running in the background, the soft hum of the elctronics offering up comfortable background noise.

But now… it was just the sounds of soft breathing. The quiet was more than a bit disconcerting. Tommy lay on the couch, blinking and trying to figure out what exactly was wrong. It only took a few seconds for it to dawn on him. The familiar weight of his plasma gun was gone and his head wasn’t as elevated as it was before. He lifted his head slowly, surveyed the room. His palm itched to grab his gun, but he already knew it wasn’t there.

Two figures were asleep on the cots. For a moment Tommy stared at the one closest to him in confusion; that wasn’t Kris asleep there. Then it clicked. That was Monte. He pushed himself up, seeing Monster in the other bed. Kris was nowhere to be seen.

Tommy gritted his teeth and sat up, still looking around. There on the floor was Adam’s book. The plasma gun was sitting right on top of it. He picked it up, noticing the safety was half flicked back into place. He stared at it for a moment before he shook his head.

“Adam, goddamnit.”

He holstered his weapon now and stood up. He looked over at the bed and sure enough, there was Monte’s head poking out from the blanket. That meant Adam and Neil had…

“Shit.”

He moved quietly to the door, noticing the lock was already disengaged. In the pitch black the stairs were a bit tricky, but he managed to climb them. The ground level was cool and Tommy figured it was at least night. There was just black outside the high windows, not that he knew what the precise time was. There was a transport here now, facing towards the big warehouse door. A seam of yellow light ran along the floor of the transport, nearly at eye level. Moving towards it, he knocked lightly on the door.

Along the seam there were the black shadows of feet moving. Then the back door raised up a bit, just enough for a person to get on. Kris was peering down at him before he silently held a hand out. Tommy took it, hauled himself up.

There was the rattle of the door being pulled closed again. Tommy barely heard it, he was too busy looking at the cargo area. There was a flicker to the yellow light that couldn’t be seen from the outside. In here, it was more pronounced and a bit surreal. The two cryo-pods’ surfaces were black and slick looking, and the light they cast on the ceiling from the open tops shimmered as if it were water.

Neil was in the first pod he looked in. The face mask covered his nose and mouth, drawing attention away from the circles under his eyes. Tommy could only imagine what getting here must have been like. He guessed from the lack of bruises or cuts on his face, Kris hadn’t been awake when they had shown up. Maybe that was a good thing, because Tommy had no idea how Kris would have reacted. He knew everything was building up in him, Kris just didn’t know it yet.

“Adam’s in the other one.”

Kris’s voice sounded a bit rough, but Tommy didn’t push his luck and ask how he was feeling. He knew to leave well enough alone. All he did was nod his head and walk the few steps over to the other one. He almost wished he hadn’t looked in.

The same face unit was on Adam and there was a small inlay on the side, keeping track of oxygen flow and other vitals. It was Adam’s body in there, but that was it. What made Adam, the individual, was gone. Tommy gripped the sides and stared down at Adam’s empty, inert body. Why the fuck hadn’t Adam woken him up like he promised? If this all went to hell later on… He wouldn’t…

“Fuck.” Tommy ran a hand through his hair. He leaned forward, resting his arms on the lip of the pod.

“They’ve been like this for the past three hours,” Kris came and stood beside Tommy. “We’re making the run on the border in another three hours. And –”

A muffled thump made Kris pause and look back. So did Tommy. They hadn’t hit anything and if the others were sleeping in the lower levels, it meant there was an intruder. He pulled his plasma gun, flicking the safety off and edging towards the door. Kris did the same, going along the other side. The door was pulled up just enough for them to quickly slip underneath. Tommy glanced over at Kris, noticing that he had a gun drawn as well and an intent look on his face. The thought filtered though his mind that Kris had changed since the time they had been cornered in the warehouse.

This was the last thing Tommy would have wanted Kris to deal with. The look on his face said he had every intent of meting out punishment… no, retribution. Not that he had much choice. He motioned to Kris to go the other way. Splitting up and searching was the only way to quickly cover the warehouse floor. They couldn’t risk whoever it was leaving and possibly calling the police.

Kris moved off quietly, vanishing into the paths between the crates. Tommy did the same, hoping it was simply a rat or something had been knocked over. He wasn’t that optimistic, but there was a chance. He was moving along the paths, checking for anything suspicious when an exclamation came from the other side of the warehouse. And when he paused, turning his head to listen, the clear sounds of fighting came.

Biting back a curse, Tommy started towards the sound. Thankfully no weapons had been discharged yet; there wasn’t the odd smell of oxygen burn that plasma weapons left behind. But it was probably only a matter of time. He hurried through the crates and found the initial spot where the fight had started. There was Kris’s plasma weapon… along with a standard police issue ion blaster.

“Shit, a cop?” Tommy was liking this less and less. They needed to –

“Why?” Kris’s voice was faint, but it was angry.

“Why what?” a female voice, a bit breathless, demanded.

“Do that to her!” Kris yelled now. “Put her on display like that!”

It all clicked then and Tommy ran as fast as he could towards the sound of their voices. It was the damned cop who had arrested Katy. Camilla Grey. This entire situation couldn’t get any more fucked up.

“Look, it wasn’t my idea,” there was a bitter tone to Cam’s voice. “If I –”

There was a derisive sound from Kris and then the sound of fighting came once more. Snarling, grunting and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Tommy figured Kris had only made it this far since he was fighting a cop who was probably taking pity on him. Big fucking mistake.

He nearly ran smack into the cop. She was backing up towards him, ducking and swerving to try and avoid Kris’ punches. He did land and few and she viciously retaliated with jabs and sharp chops. Either pure rage was on Kris’s side or he simply didn’t care. Her blows landed and he took them, and then kept coming. Tommy paused for a moment, flicking the safety on before he stepped out from behind the crate. Camilla’s back was still facing towards him so he grabbed the muzzle of the gun and rapped her hard on her port. She jerked, almost stumbled forward, obviously surprised. When she turned he clipped her right on the temple.

She dropped to the ground like a stone.

Tommy had already flipped his gun around, had the safety off and aimed the muzzle right at her. But Camilla wasn’t moving at all. When he looked up, Kris was looking like he was on the losing side of a fist fight. He had some forming bruises on his face and Tommy had no doubt there were a good many under his shirt. Kris was breathing heavily and staring at the unconscious woman. Damn it, this was beyond fucked up…

“Go get Monster and Monte.”

“I’m not –” Kris started.

Tommy wasn’t playing this game. “What kind of idiot do you take me for? I know what you’re going through, that’s why I haven’t pushed. But you are on the verge of doing something you will regret for the rest of your life. Probably as much as letting Katy go,”

That seemed to reach Kris and he looked up at Tommy. Then again, that was probably the first time anyone said her name to him since she killed herself.

“So trust me when I say I am trying to do you a big favour here. Tried it with tact and you blew that away with an ion cannon. And I, for one, don’t want to see you with blood on your hands. So, I’ll ask you again: go get Monte and Monster. Tell them precisely who we have here.”

Kris looked indecisve now and for a moment, Tommy thought he might have to actually do something drastic. But then Kris moved, heading towards the other side of the warehouse. Once he was safely gone, Tommy breathed a sigh of relief and holstered his gun. He picked up Camilla under the arms and dragged her to the transport.

His jacket was quickly stripped off and he securely tied her arms behind her back. As he was drawing back up, he noticed there was no soft red glow coming from her cybernetic. That made him take pause. All cops were required to have the damned things active at all times. So why had this cop gone off-grid and followed Monte and Neil here? Truth be told, Tommy was wondering how she managed to follow Monte and Neil in the first place. And since she’d clearly been able to track them, why didn’t she bring back-up?

Hurried steps reach his ears and when he turned around, Monster and Monte were walking over quickly. Kris was following close behind with a blank expression on his face. Tommy was no fool, Kris was probably still pissed at him. Not that Tommy gave a flying fuck about that right now, but he knew Kris would want to have it out sooner or later.

“Shit,” Monte swore when he laid eyes Camilla. “It’s her. How the fuck did she even find us?”

“Let’s find out.”

That was all Monster said as he crouched down, patting Camilla’s cheeks with some force. It took a few seconds for her to come to. There was a groggy look on her face and she blinked a few times, wincing a bit before her gaze settled on Monster. She blinked a few times more before shock settled on her face and she croaked out,

“Longineu?”

A few expressions flickered over that face before he settled for a small smile and, “Yeah. It’s me Cam.”

Tommy was liking this less and less. He instinctively rested a hand on his gun. It seemed that Camilla and Monster had history. So much that she knew his actual name. But Cam was blinking rapidly now and it seemed like she completely forgot that there were other people present.

“Fuck, Longineu, you’re alive! Those fuckers told us you died. Bad reaction to the sim training and there was a synapse overload. Said that you went brain dead and your body systems shut down and failed not long afterwards. I had to accept it at face value and fuck if I didn’t try to not think it was a load of bullshit because that’s all they ever fucking spew into our heads. Doesn’t help that they’re in our fucking heads and, shit, just… _shit_ ,” then anger twisted Cam’s face. “I told you, I fucking told you to not bother with the SOF training, you were good enough on your own.”

Tommy frowned at that. Special Op Forces training… and the familiarity with which Camilla was speaking to him, “You were a fucking cop?”

“Was. That was before they went and turned me into some experimental cyborg,” Monster shot Tommy a look, as if he knew precisely what he was thinking. His eyes dropped to where Tommy’s hand was still resting on his holster. “And I’m still the man who will get you all over the border in one piece.”

There was a wary look on Monte’s face and Tommy felt like this was a really bad idea. He snorted and that seemed to catch Camilla’s attention. She looked around, inhaling sharply when her eyes settled on Tommy’s plasma gun. He had no qualms about flicking the safety off as she watched.

“Nobody knows I’m here,” she began. “I went –”

“Why are you here?” Monte interrupted. “Because I have to say, I’m all for ensuring you’re not a mole.”

“She’s not,” Monster said, glancing back at Monte with a sharp look. “I trusted this woman with my life for nearly my entire life.”

“You’re a Runner and she’s a cop. How is this going to end well?” Monte pointed out.

“I cracked my link,” Camilla looked between them all as she started to speak. “What I want, more than anything right now, are answers. Because too much isn’t making sense. There is a ridiculous amount of interest for the destruction of two simple androids,”

Camilla moved, sitting up straighter on her legs. Tommy took a half step back and pulled his gun, raising it slightly. All Camilla did was glance at him as she kept talking.

“Androids are easily replaceable. And why did Katy say ambiotic fluid? The security vids corroborate her words. Androids come packaged up in boxes. Androids don’t need that ambiotic shit. So whatever Cowell was doing for Fuller, it wasn’t legal by any means. Not that that fucking matters to that man. Fuller wants it done, it gets done, irregardless of who gets trampled on the way. People are expendable to him.”

There was a furious expression on Camilla’s face and her next words totally surprised Tommy.

“She was protecting someone, or something. I just want to know what because none of this is making any fucking sense to me. Androids in ambiotic tubes don’t just up and vanish like that. And people don’t flip out and demand the world from one cop. They made such a big stink but then assigned just me to it? They flat out refused when I requested a team for the case. They wanted to keep this as quiet as possible. Otherwise, there would have been a goddamn full-on manhunt. And even still, that’s an overreaction for two androids. At this point, I don’t want Katy O’Connell’s death to have been for fucking nothing. I just want some damned _answers_.”

Silence fell on the heels of her words. It explained a few things for Tommy. Like why she had no back-up now. Why her cybernetic was off. Tommy glanced over to find a thoughtful look on Monte’s face. Kris, on the other hand, looked pale. His jaw was clenched and his hands were balled into fists at his side. Monster looked between them for a few seconds before he turned his attention back to her.

“How did you find us, Cam?”

“At the depot in Pastche,” Cam swallowed hard. “Katy almost erased evidence of where the transport was heading before I could see it. All I saw were names of some major cities. When it was copied to my link, I filed it under follow-up evidence.”

“What?” Kris sounded worried now. “But that means –”

Monster interrupted with, “That means no one will come looking for Cam yet. Follow-up evidence has to be seen through within a seven day period. Only three days of that time have elapsed. Cam bought us some time.”

“But her cybernetic is off.” Tommy pointed out.

“They’ll assume she’s in the Catacombs,” Monster began. “That’s why so many cops don’t like going down there. They lose the signal, lose the connection with central. To central, it looks like they’ve gone off-grid. But Cam’s known for doing what she needs to in the line of duty. Wouldn’t be the first time she’s gone down into the Catacombs for a prolonged period of time. Wouldn’t even be the first time she’s done so without reporting it beforehand, not by a long shot.”

Silence fell once more. Camilla cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself once more.

“I know you all have every reason in the world to not trust me. Hell, I’m honestly starting to wonder when Mr.Trigger here is going to blast me,” she tilted her head in Tommy’s direction and Tommy arched an eyebrow remorselessly. “But I’ve been off-grid for three days now. I haven’t been tailed, and like Longineu said, everyone probably assumes that I’m in the Catacombs. If I was tailed, you know that this place woud be swarming with cops right now,”

Tommy couldn’t deny that. But still…

“Having this thing off for so long… I don’t think I can go back and continue to fool myself. To turn a blind eye and not do something. I won’t be able to keep the status quo. And I’ve seen your faces. What do you think will happen when I go back and they turn my device back on?”

A scowl came to Tommy’s face. He knew it wasn’t a threat, but damned if it didn’t pretty much amount to blackmail. Facts were facts and once Camilla went back and she was online again, it was game over.

“Shit,” He dropped the gun muzzle. “So what the hell do you want?”

Monster answered before she could. “She wants to come with us.”

“That’s right. To the North.” Camilla raised her chin, a stubborn set to her face. “Either you can help me or I’ll figure something out myself. But at this point, there’s really no going back for me.”

Monster was unusually still and when he inhaled slowly, Tommy had a sinking feeling about what the next words would be.

“I’m bringing her with us.”

To Kris’s credit he didn’t say anything. Just directed a stony gaze at Camilla and walked away. Tommy lingered for a moment, listening as Monster and Monte dicussed just how to best verify Camilla’s story in a short period of time. Holstering his gun once more, he went after Kris. He didn’t have to go far to find him. A few stacks over and sitting on a single crate, there was Kris. He glanced over as Tommy came over and hopped up on the crate, sitting beside him.

It took him a few seconds to go over what he wanted to say. Tommy finally settled for, “How much of a problem is this going to be for you?”

“I’ll behave. We’re almost there, I’m not going to be the one to mess this up. Adam and Neil are depending on us. I… I can’t… They need us, and Katy needs us to finish this. When I saw her, realised who she was,” Kris dragged a hand through his hair. “Thank you. You were entirely right.”

Tommy was silent for a moment. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly? Raw. Exposed. I almost wish none of this had happened.” He stopped, laughed softly. “Not almost. I want her back so badly, it’s pretty much all I can think about. I keep going over the what ifs and if I had pushed harder or just totally ignored her, dragged her along, would she still be alive?”

Kris fell quiet and Tommy settled for patting him on the shoulder.

“It eventually gets better. Not much easier, but it gets better.”

At that, Kris turned to look at him. Just stared at him, not breaking his gaze. Tommy didn’t either, though he wasn’t sure what precisely Kris thought he would find. After a minute or two, Kris gave a soft huff.

“Who was it?” when Tommy remained silent, Kris slid him a look. “You talk too much like you know. Like when you talk about prison.”

Busted. Tommy shifted on the crate uneasily. His hand was halfway up to rubbing at his port before he noticed and dropped it back down. “My best friends. All three of them vanished. I went looking for answers. It’s how I ended up hacking.”

“Did you get your answers?”

“No. Still haven’t. I don’t think I ever will,” Tommy shook his head. He really didn’t want to talk about this now. Or ever. “Are you sure you’re –”

“Yes,” Kris sounded annoyed now. “It’s not like I’m running the show anyways. Monster’s got everything arranged. Though how he’s going to squeeze in one more person, I don’t know.”

“He’ll figure something out,” Tommy turned as he heard footsteps coming towards them. When Monte appeared, Tommy couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows in surprise. “That was fast.”

“She went for the rapid scan. Everything she said is legit. I’m personally still on the fence, but it’s not my decision so,” Monte shrugged. “But Monster doesn’t want to take any chances. We’re packing out in an hour.”

“An hour? That’s not nearly enough time.”

“It’ll have to be. It’s just after four in the morning. According to Monster we’re still following the plan, posing as delivery drivers and security. We’ve gotta get from here to Ashvile, on the other side of the border, in under six hours. It’s doable if we leave soon.”

“And Camilla –” Tommy started.

“Additional security added at the last minute,” Monte cut him off. “Kris, you’re now riding shotgun with Monster. Me, Tommy and Camilla are posing as security. The worst part of this is going to be waiting at the border. Remember we need to get caught in the massive morning crush. They’ll be more focused on processing things through quickly than anything else.”

“The border crush is that bad?” Kris asked.

“Everyone I met in Calista who tried to hop the border and got caught did it outside the crunch times. It’s sensible, it’s solid.” Tommy slid down from the crate. “Okay then, let’s get to it.”

Monte and Kris nodded, heading towards the door to the lower level. Tommy lingered for a moment, debating if he should check on Camilla and Monster. But he opted not to and went downstairs with the others. If Monster trusted her, there was nothing much that could be done. They swept through the lower level quickly, gathering up their things and stashing them away in packs. Tommy made sure he grabbed Adam’s book and tucked it away safely.

The two police uniforms from the raid were dug out and Tommy tried not to laugh as Monte pulled a face as Kris handed his over. Whatever material they were made out of, it had plenty of elastafiber in it and it fit snugly over Monte’s body. They finished suiting up before grabbing their packs and heading back upstairs.

The transport’s engine was already rumbling softly as they came up. The back door was open and Tommy could see Camilla already in the cargo area. He and Monte tossed their bags up before hauling themselves on. Camilla was fiddling with an air recycler unit mounted on the wall. Tommy simply picked up his pack and placed it in a corner by the wall seat before he walked back over to Adam’s cryo-pod. Monte was stashing his bag away when Monster rapped on the door and looked at them before focusing on Tommy and Monte.

“You two have radios on those helmets?” when Tommy nodded, Monster simply said. “Maintain radio silence on it then. Hell, turn it completely off.”

Tommy nodded and Monster’s gaze flicked between the two of them before the door was closed. A plasma light flickered on and after a moment, he saw Camilla rest it on the floor. Anxiety and trepidation sat low in his stomach, like lead weights. He pulled off the helmet and searched for the switch. Damned thing was hidden somewhere and –

“Under the foam, by one of the earpieces about three inches up,” Camilla said simply as she sat down. “It’s a bitch to find, I know.”

Tommy checked and sure enough, there was a little switch with the power symbol and then a flat line on the opposite side. He pulled it down towards the flat line. “Thanks.”

Camilla simply inclined her head, eyes looking over at Monte to make sure he was doing the same thing. The transport started with a bit of a lurch and Tommy was sure that it was entirely for their benefit. There was a slight rocking motion and the familiar surge of acceleration didn’t come until almost twenty minutes later. They were on the hyperway, up to the border.

Not a single word was said for the entire ride. Maybe it was nerves or their unfamiliarity with one another, but there was plenty of glancing about and nothing said. What Tommy would have loved to hear more than anything right now was Adam talking about something. Hell, he’d happily put up with Adam thinking he was defective because of some random reaction. Like that one night…

“You okay, Tommy?”

Monte’s words were almost strange to hear after the protracted quiet. “Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“You just went red and… are you trying not to smirk?” Monte’s eyes narrowed.

“No.”

That was all Tommy said before he took out his plasma gun. He powered it down, started checking over it and he really hoped that Monte didn’t press it because he _really_ didn’t want to have to explain that one. His expression was already evening out into a blank stare, and he pushed thoughts of Adam out of his mind. When he glanced up, Monte was fiddling with the helmet, but Camilla was watching him. There was an amused expression on her face, but a curious one as well.

He mentally bridled a bit. No way in hell was he elaborating on anything in front of some smug cop.

Another forty minutes passed before the transport’s deceleration was felt. When it came to a complete stop everyone glanced up and looked around at one another. Weapons were drawn and primed. The seconds and minutes felt like they ticked on by slowly. The transport moved and stopped, sporadic bursts that told Tommy they were creeping closer.

He lost track of time at that point. But then the truck’s engine was shut off. This was it. Suddenly Monte moved, lobbing his helmet at Camilla. She caught it, looking surprised. Monte had his gun out and primed, glancing between them.

“You’re an off-grid cop,” Monte said to Cam before tilting his head toward Tommy, “and you’re paranoid about being recognised. I’ve been declared officially dead. You think they’ll be looking for a supposedly dead man?”

“Point.” Cam said after a moment and slipped the helmet on.

Tommy gave in with a, “Yeah, okay.”

“Just let me do the talking then.”

That was the last thing Monte said. Tommy couldn’t argue that. He slipped his helmet on, snapping the visor down in place. Monte tugged at the uniform a bit before they waited. And waited. Tommy was on the verge of thinking that nothing was going to happen when the heavy thunk of the lock disengaging on the other side came. Then there was the rattle of the door opening. Tommy blinked at the bright flood of light and was glad for his visor. There were two very harried looking border guards peering into the transport. Kris and Monster stood off to one side, looking aggrieved.

“Alright. Three guards. Two android transport containers. Looks good.” One guard consulted something on their holopad. “Long night guys?”

“Last run before we have some time off. You know how it is,” Monte shrugged and walked forward. “They say be there and what choice do we have?”

The other guard laughed. “At least you got an interesting work designation. Would you rather deal with crabby transport drivers and idiots trying to smuggle things in and out of the country?”

Tommy was sure that had to be a slight against either Kris or Monster. But neither made a visible reaction. Monte just gave a wide grin.

“I’d rather be in a nice little house in the Pedrour district out in LA, enjoying the beach.”

“See, this guy, he knows what it’s about,” the first security guard hauled himself up onto the transport. “Alright. Just need to inspect the goods. Says here they’re being transported in ambiotic fluid?”

“Yeah, go figure,” Monte rolled his eyes. “Some idiot punches in the wrong number and androids get transported in a couple thousand credits worth of that stuff.”

“Hey, no skin off my back,” the guard said dryly. “I didn’t make the mistake. Can you unlock them?”

“No problem. You guys.”

Tommy didn’t need to be told twice. He holstered his gun and started undoing the security latches around the edge of Adam’s cryo-pod. He focused on just getting through this, because he was half convinced that at any second now, one, or even both, of the guards would notice that something was off.

There was the hiss of the seal releasing and Tommy lifted the lid up. The guard peered into Neil’s first, made some comment to Monte before he came over to Adam. The guard looked in, eyes skimming over Adam’s submerged body and then,

“Damn, this one a pleasure droid or something?” the guard eyed Adam’s crotch warily. “Shit, someone is getting their credit’s worth. Can’t argue with the quality of droid that Renace Droid Corp makes, huh?”

Tommy thought it was very commendable that he hadn’t punched the guard right in the face like he was envisioning in his head at the moment. He just nodded and murmured, “Nope” as he settled the lid back into place and started snapping it shut. He watched as the guard’s fingers moved over the holopad, probably checking off boxes. Monte was placing the cover back on Neil’s pod when the guard spoke again.

“Alright, you guys are good. Take it easy.”

The guards hopped off the cargo area and started back to wherever they came from. Monte and Kris just gave them a quick salute before the door was closed again. The transport’s engine started up and the gentle pull of acceleration made them all sit back down. Only Camilla and Monte had taken their weapons out of their holsters again. Tommy took his gun out as well, unsure what they were on guard for.

Monte must have seen the confusion on his face because he was suddenly saying, “Snatchers. They let you get over the border and then drag your back.”

“What? Why…” Tommy trailed off even as he started. Of course they would do that. Anything before the the border was just intent. But intent with followthrough meant a solid conviction.

He rested his gun easily on his leg, a switch away from being active. During the rest of the ride absolutely nothing happened. It wasn’t until the transport stopped again that the knot of anxiety loosened and Tommy finally reholstered his gun. The sound of hurried feet came and then the cargo door opened again.

“Let’s hustle,” Monster pulled himself up into the cargo. “We’ve got a window of five hours here. Considering how fast they downloaded, we could be out of here in four.”

“Where are we?” Tommy squinted at the bright light coming in from somewhere.

“Ashvile. Just on the other side of the border. I’ve got us a personal transport arriving at thirteen hundred. It’s just after eight in the morning.” Monster opened the compartment in the floor and pulled out the foam-wrapped hard drives. “We have a good amount of time.”

Tommy walked to the edge of the cargo hold, his eyesight adjusting. It was yet another warehouse, with windows up high, but the light coming in wasn’t a dirty looking colour. It seemed too pure, something that was entirely the wrong colour, too bright. He took the helmet off his head and thunked it down on the seat. When he glanced back, Monster was at Neil’s pod and Monte was at Adam’s. Tommy walked over, digging out his holopad.

“I’ll wake Adam up.” Tommy slipped the drive from Monte’s hand.

It looked like Monte was going to protest for a moment, but he just nodded his head. “I set it up to auto-run when the drive is plugged in and everything is activated. I’ll go see if, you know, Monster or Camilla need a hand.”

While he couldn’t be sure, Tommy felt almost positive that Monte was trying his hardest to not to laugh at him. The drive was jacked in, and the holopad as well and before long the downloading process had started. Monster and Monte alternated between checking on Neil’s download, while going over some kinda of data. Camilla seemed to keep herself busy with doling out ration packs and sorting through the pile of clothes Monster brought out from somewhere. Kris… well the most Tommy saw of him was his head going back and forth, doing some task Tommy wasn’t particularly focused on.

The time slowly passed and everyone ate something and changed into fresh clothes. Tommy wasn’t moving from this damned spot until he was sure Adam uploaded properly. An hour later, everyone else was off the transport, stretching and walking around the warehouse. Footsteps came towards the transport and a few seconds later, Kris pulled himself up. He had a bundle of clothes and a ration pack tucked under an arm.

“Brought you some clothes. Food too.” Kris held them out.

“Thanks,” Tommy took them. “I’ll change and eat later.”

Kris watched him for a moment. “I’ve already found clothes for Adam and Neil. There’s food waiting for them. I even took out Adam’s book. There’s nothing more we can do right now.”

Tommy just responded with “Mm-hm” and nodded his head as he checked the progress bar. Fifty nine percent.

“Monte was right when he said you were a stubborn sonofabitch. I’m quoting him verbatim here.” Kris came over and sat down on the ledge seat. “You know how you threatened to shoot me?”

“Yeah.” Tommy said slowly. He didn’t quite see where this was going. “I wouldn’t of.”

“I know,” Kris smiled. “I have Camilla’s ion blaster.”

For a moment, Tommy just stared at Kris before he laughed. Who would have thought that meek Kris would have ever dished out such attitude towards him? And hell, if he was willing to get Camilla’s ion blaster…

“Fine,” Tommy stood up, stiff joints protesting. “I didn’t come all this way just to get blasted in the ass.”

Kris chuckled and stood up. When he just turned around Tommy rolled his eyes but quickly changed. He tossed the police uniform on the ledge. Kris silently turned around and handed him the ration pack. Fuck, Kris wasn’t really going to let up on this. It reminded him a lot of Adam. He took the pack, ripped open the top, picked up the spork and started eating.

“You know,” Tommy made a face as he started on the reconstituted thing pretending to be potatoes. “I don’t think I’ll ever eat another one of these disgusting things if I don’t have to.”

“Tell me about it. Monster was saying how there’s actual farms. Real farms. With people and animals. Crazy man. Hey,” Kris glanced back to the warehouse. “Do you think we can call Monster by his name now? Or should we stick with, you know…”

Tommy shrugged as he poked at what was supposed to be meat. “Ask him? Shit, I’ll go hungry until I can find something better. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

He placed the half-finished ration pack on the seat. But Kris just stared at him and so, swearing, Tommy picked it up and gulped down the rest.

“Good. Monster says that even after we leave here, it’s still another four hours to our destination.” Kris stood up, picking up the discarded uniform.

“You nag at me like Adam does.” Tommy muttered, half sullen, half amused by the idea.

“Someone has to for him. You and Monte have more than earned it, don’t you think?”

“Being nagged?” Tommy frowned. When had this conversation suddenly become about him?

“To look after you. Care about you. It’s not just the two of you anymore,” Kris picked at a buckle on the bundled uniform. “Can I ask you something?”

Tommy would take the chance. It was fifty-fifty that the question would be about him. “Shoot.”

“Monte’s been really quiet since we got here and unloaded. I mean…” Kris trailed off. “Never mind, I’ll ask him –”

“Don’t,” Tommy stood up quickly. He saw where this was going. It was worse than Kris focusing in Tommy some more. “Just give him some time. He never wanted to leave, remember?”

Kris nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. “Yeah. Okay.”

But there was that look on Kris’s face that said he still wanted an answer. Tommy sighed and rubbed at his face. “Look, if Katy had been unable to leave, would you have left as well?”

“No.” Kris said slowly as realization dawned on his face.

“Just drop it. Don’t ask him about it. You’ll just make it worse. I’m serious.” Tommy glanced outside. “The last thing you want is to make Monte really mad. Trust me. He’s scarier than me, doesn’t even need a gun.”

Kris nodded but then asked. “Can you talk to him or something?”

“Yeah, I will.” There was something Tommy wasn’t really looking forward to, but he’d known he would long before Kris brought it up. “Not now though. After all of this.”

“Thanks.”

Kris gave a nod of his head before he was down and off the transport. Tommy settled back down on the seat to wait. He really didn’t feel like mingling with the others yet. The feeling that this was too good too be true was lingering and hell, someone had to be on guard.

“Hey,”

He looked over to see Kris coming back.

“If you’re going to lurk in here, might as well have this.”

Tommy stared as he held out Adam’s blue book. He took it after a moment. “Thanks.”

This time, Tommy got a brief smile before Kris was off the transport again. He held the book in his hands before he placed it beside him. The thought of reading Adam’s book… he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. It felt like another hour passed before a soft chime caught his attention. The latches auto-released and Tommy was on his feet so quick, he almost gave himself a head rush.

“Yo!” he banged on the transport wall. “They’re done!”

Monte and Monster were just clambering up into the cargo when Tommy finally got both the lids off. He leaned on the side of Adam’s pod, watching as a frown came to that face. Relief surged through him when Adam blinked a few times before squinting up at him.

“Tommy?” Adam’s voice sounded a bit rough, like he’d just rolled out of bed. “You should be asleep still.”

“I’ll bitch at you about that later,” a huge smile came to Tommy’s face. He didn’t think he could stop it if he tried. “We’re safe.”

“What?” Adam was still squinting. He raised a gel-covered hand, trying to shield his eyes from the light. “Why are you all… sparkly? Like you’re covered in glitter.”

“Huh? Oh,” Tommy shifted, blocking the sunlight with his body. “Better?”

“Much,” Adam blinked rapidly, eyes focusing and settling on Tommy. “Huh.”

“Something wrong?”

“No. Just,” A smile came to Adam’s face. “I think I liked you more when you looked glittery and sparkly.”

“Whatever you like babyboy,” Tommy took his gel-covered hand. “We made it.”

Adam watched him for a moment before he gripped Tommy’s hand as tight as he could, though the gel made their grip slip more than hold firm. “We made it over?”

“Yeah, we all did.”

Tommy wished his voice didn’t sound shaky. But he felt like he was about to burst with excitement, elation and who knew what the fuck else. Because he was, Adam was, they all were finally somewhere good. Some place they didn’t have to hide in shadows and live some sort of fucked-up half life while trying to make a difference.

Adam inhaled sharply. “I want to get out, I need to –”

“I know, hang on. Gotta take the jack out.”

Tommy glanced up to find everyone in the cargo hold. Monte was helping Neil, disconnecting him while Monster was removing the harddrive. Kris was coming their way with a blanket now. Camilla was staring between Adam and Neil, looking shocked. Tommy took the blanket from him and though he didn’t want to, he inclined his head towards Camilla. Kris didn’t look too thrilled but he nodded his head before he ushered her off the transport. Any bet there was a long explanation there.

Getting Adam out of the pod proved to be really tricky. The gel was slippery and more than once, Tommy wondered how Kris and Katy had gotten Adam and Neil out, probably with minimal fuss. But once Adam was out, he quickly wrapped the blanket around him. He left Adam sitting on the ledge seat while he hopped off the truck and grabbed the two sets of awaiting clothes.

When he got back on the transport, Neil was out and gave him a quick smile. Tommy settled on giving him a grin, handing off the clothes and ruffling his hair quickly. Adam’s laugh reached his ears before he even turned around.

“You know,” Adam said as he started wiping the ambiotic gel off with the blanket. “Neil is now wondering what happened to the original Tommy. Maybe you’re a droid?”

“Would he feel better if I pulled my gun out?”

“…Maybe a little bit.”

There was a small grin on Adam’s face now and Tommy felt a little bit like he was drunk. He was tempted to draw his gun just to watch that grin spread into a fullblown smile. He knew they weren’t out of the woods yet, but still. Considering how long they’d been at this old warehouse and no one had come bursting in on them yet… It was a high.

Adam got dressed easily, though Tommy had to stand there and hold the blanket up while he pulled on the pair of pants. When they got off the truck, Adam made a face at the ration pack he was given. Tommy told him to eat it, lest Kris give him the same stare. It quickly disappeared and the transport was tidied up before the door was shut and locked.

Tommy was personally glad to know it was the last time he’d see it.

As thirteen hundred approached everyone started to get antsy. Tommy could see it in how they glanced about, fingers tapping, and how it was a general struggle to not move about too much. Even Monte seemed a little more cheerful. And Adam was restless, though he only showed it with the tapping of his fingers, a rapid staccato against the cover of his book.

Tommy was going to ask him what the beat was, when Monster suddenly rose from his spot. Everyone watched as he walked to a door and opened it. Blindingly bright light streamed in as Monster peered out. When he ducked back in, there was a grin on his face.

“Okay, let’s go. Everyone, grab your stuff. Grab it all. We’re not coming back.”

It was like setting off a plasma grenade. The motion was fast and frenetic. Packs were grabbed and everyone ran to the door. Elation filled Tommy as Adam jumped to his feet. He barely had time to grab the packs before Adam’s hand grasped his and they were running to the door. Monster had stepped out to hold the door open and when they crashed outside, Tommy had to stop and look around.

The sun was bright, almost blinding, without the haze of yellowish smog overhead. There were clouds instead, puffy and white. There wasn’t a hint of the dirty grey colour of the ones back in the United Southern States. And when he lowered his gaze, there were –

“Tommy, look,” Adam’s voice was a whisper, filled with excitement. “Trees. _Trees_! …those are trees, right? They fit the description –”

Tommy laughed, just happy. “Yeah, they’re trees.” He had seen them in photos from his illegal history book. Tommy tightened his grip on Adam’s hand and nudged his shoulder. “Look up, babyboy.”

When Adam tilted his head back and looked up, sheer wonder passed over his face. Tommy couldn’t look away from Adam’s face, even with the view surrounding them, because it that expression… It almost felt like he could feel Adam’s emotions, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t take in all that he was seeing. Like this was some VR simulation that was too good to be –

“Hey, you two!”

The words were followed by a brisk rap on a metallic surface. Tommy looked over to see a woman smiling at them. She was standing beside an open-back personal transport vehicle. Somehow, everyone else had gotten inside already. Monster was standing beside her, an arm around her waist.

“Give them a minute, Joan.” Monster’s voice was clear as day.

“Hon, they’ve had their minute for nearly four already. And that paperwork isn’t going to finish itself,” Joan glanced at them. “You can either sit inside the cab or you can elect for the back. I’m taking the slow way home, so –”

“Back.” Tommy said easily. No way was he sitting inside something again.

“All right then,” Joan moved. “This PTV isn’t going anywhere until you both hop on.”

Tommy ran forward, tugging Adam after him. Joan had snapped down the back gate to the PTV and Tommy slung on the packs before clambering on. Adam was climbing on right after him. Joan watched them for a moment as she lifted the gate back up.

“Just fit yourself into the corner and you’ll be fine. Knock on the window if you want anything. Got some drinks and food in there, okay?”

“Thank you.” Adam was grinning like a loon.

Joan shook her head and mumbled something as she started for the driver’s side.

Then Adam added as an afterthought, “Real food?”

Joan paused, glancing back at them. A grin to match Adam’s tugged at her mouth. “Nothing but.”

Monster hung back for a moment. “You two sure –”

‘Yes.” Tommy interrupted. “Let’s get going.”

The snort Monster gave sounded very amused. He walked around to the other side of the PTV. Tommy moved back into the corner and Adam stretched out against Tommy, an arm resting on Tommy’s knee and his head pillowed on Tommy’s thigh.

“The sky…” that was all Adam murmured, his gaze fixed upwards.

The PTV started up with a gentle hum before it slowly pulled away from the warehouse. Tommy watched the building for a moment, before he looked upwards as well sliding an arm over Adam’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I know. The sky.”

_________________________________________________________


End file.
